We're Horrible People
by victoriarogue
Summary: There's no changing our minds, trying to get us to see anything different, or none of that other "feel good when the world kicks you down" crap. It is what it is. We're just... yeah... title's up there.
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: *sighs* I... We... I've got nothin'. I honestly have got NOTHING. I'm supposed to be working on my other KH fic since I'm writin' up a new chapter for it as we speak, but I thought this would be fun to do instead since I'm still trying to put the pieces together for that project. I'm trying to work my way up to a new update. I haven't touched my KH fic in FOUR years. I'm a horrible person. Hence why I created this fic as a parody of my life really. Hope you guys enjoy this weird comedy.

* * *

It was a slow day at the coffee shop this evening. Eraqus had finally finished cleaning the kitchen in the back, so he stretched his arms out to either side of his body and hopped up a few times to get the muscles in his legs to relax a bit. As he flapped his arms back and forth a bit, he looked over at the kitchen clock on his left side and spotted the time being 10:30 pm. Half an hour after closing time was pretty good. It used to be an hour or two before he could leave, but there weren't as many customers today. It could be because today was the last day of school. He, himself, teaches at the Land of Departure with his coworker Xehanort. He and his coworker go way back, though. He was supposed to see Yen Sid over the weekend along with Xehanort, but old Yen had to cancel and move the visit to next weekend. Fortunately, Eraqus didn't have to teach at the Land of Departure again until the summer officially started which was somewhere in June so...

Okay, let's be completely real here. Eraqus is pretty much just a summer camp counselor with his home boy from back in the day while his other home boy works for or with the Mouseketeers Camp in God knows where 'cause he never went to that camp. What the hell were they doing with their lives? And with kids on top of that? Speaking of kids, Eraqus took off his white apron and walked to the front at the register and counter. There, he spotted his faithful part-time worker, Ventus. Xehanort introduced Eraqus to Ventus over the summer when he joined the Keyblade Camp right before starting middle school at Destiny Islands. Ventus was so sweet. He wanted to help and be a part of the camp any way he could. Since Eraqus liked the boy, he took him in and introduced him to his fellow campers, Terra and Aqua. Those three were inseparable the whole summer and stayed in contact with each other outside of camp. Even though Ventus's parents felt that the boy was too young to hang around Terra and Aqua, the other two were drawn to him and got in more trouble just trying to see each other. Soon, the adults just gave up and let the three remain together until the inevitable happened at camp four years later.

Terra graduated high school and was dubbed "too old" to be in Keyblade Camp. Terra was so devastated to have to leave camp. He couldn't do it. His poor baby! So devoted to the Keyblade Camp, Terra decided he wanted to work for Eraqus as a counselor and soon Aqua and Ventus wanted the same. Ventus went the extra mile, however, and decided to be the first camper to work at his coffee shop during school. Terra and Aqua usually focused on school so they could get rewards for all of their hard work from Eraqus, which he could never deny them having because they were so cute, but Ventus was always just a bit different. He thrived in social settings and hated being shielded from the realities of the world.

That's how he wound up working at the coffee shop anyway. Ventus loved it there and continued to work under Eraqus during the school year while going to Keyblade Camp over the summer. Ventus had another two years of high school to go before he graduated and was dubbed too old for summer camp. He had to dub Aqua too old last week after she graduated, but Eraqus was hardly surprised when she joined Terra on the list of future camp counselors. He couldn't really see either of them wanting to come back after they really started getting in to college studies but the future's ahead.

"Hey, Ventus, I'm headin' out for the night," Eraqus said after realizing he had been staring at Ventus putting things away with a smile on his face. "Make sure you lock up, okay?"

"No prob, Master Eraqus!" Ventus declared, smiling brightly. "Have a good night."

"You, too, kiddo."

Eraqus chuckled at the blonde and walked out of the front door to make sure it locked automatically. Satisfied with the lock, he left his innocent student behind not knowing that Ventus was watching him leave. The blonde wasn't going to do anything bad per se, but he would rather Eraqus not know about his late-night stays. Ventus waited for Eraqus to get in his car before rushing to hurry up and clean the last bit of the shop. He pulled the blinds down in the window and waved to Eraqus when he passed by and drove away. Ventus slapped at the blinds quickly before running around to shove the rest of the blinds down.

When one of the window blinds decided not to come down, Ventus hissed, "Dammit, blinds!"

Ventus actually stays at the shop to do a lot of last-minute things like homework assignments, extra studying, and his other new hobby called vlogging. He doesn't post any of his vlogs, mind you. He just catalogues his day and keeps the recordings on his flash drive for later. He started doing them in secret right after he graduated middle school. At his graduation, Aqua kissed his cheek to express how happy she was for him and Terra decided to give him a bear hug. Ventus had never been held with such affection from anyone other than his parents before, and he had received a new laptop from Xehanort as a gift for high school which he still has to this day. Eraqus gave him a basket of goodies for him to splurge on.

When the graduation party was over and his friends and teachers returned home, Ventus tried out the new laptop and discovered a webcam on it. Just to toy with it, Ventus took selfies and videos of himself making funny faces or just regular smiles. As Terra's graduation approached, Ventus took pictures with him and made a short collection of videos with Terra for the next two weeks as his senior year was closing out. He, apparently, wanted to spend the night at his house. Aqua soon joined them the week before Terra's graduation in the sleepover. Ventus thought it was strange for them to want to stay near him at first, but he was happy all the same because they were together. They took multiple pictures and videos together, and Aqua made a video phone account for each of them. The contact group was called the Wayfinders.

"Ah, screw it!" Ventus yelled, smacking the blinds away from him. "I hate these stupid things anyway..."

As soon as he said that, the blinds went down perfectly and shielded the outside world from his view. Ventus wanted to rip the blinds down for that, but he seriously wanted to stay in that upstairs office and do what he normally did there. To continue with this back story, at Terra's graduation, Ventus felt he should return his friends' affections. He gave Terra the bear hug and Aqua the kiss, yet he felt something different was happening between them - something new and strange. The adults thought Ventus was just giving back to his friends out of happiness for Terra and maybe expressing a little crush on Aqua, but it seemed innocent enough not to raise any particular questions. Xehanort thought differently, though, and instructed Ventus on recording his thoughts in the middle of taking pictures with Terra.

 _"You know," the elder said, waving to Terra and his parents as they posed for Eraqus and Aqua. "I can see why would you would hug Terra, but returning Aqua's kiss is rather interesting."_

 _"Huh?" Ventus thought. "Oh! Well, it's just... I've never been kissed by another girl other than my mom or my auntie before. I always give them one after they give me one. I thought that's what I was supposed to do. Is that wrong, Master Xehanort?"_

 _"Not at all," the man said in his deep voice. "In fact, that's quite courteous of you. Means your manners are upstanding, but... you could have easily returned their affections at your own graduation party. I don't recall you doing so. Up 'til today, your parents told me and Eraqus that Terra and Aqua stayed at your house."_

 _"Well, yeah, they wanted to," Ventus replied, wanting to hear more of Xehanort's thoughts as to why he returned his friends' affections._

 _"That's interesting in and of itself," the man said, putting his hands behind his back. "Terra has always been a handsome boy and has always thought of Eraqus as a father figure. Eraqus, back in our day, was always the social butterfly. He loved people and people loved him back. Terra picked up on some of those traits from that fox, but it is interesting to hear that Terra would rather stay with you instead of visiting his other friends from school. The same can be said for Aqua. As beautiful as the girl is, she would rather be with you two where she is most comfortable than with her own friends from school. Like most women, Aqua has her insecurities but not around us. Even less so around you, Ventus. Perhaps you should think of using your computer to express your own thoughts of the matter."_

After Terra's graduation party, Ventus decided to do just that. One of Terra's friends, Zack, did swing by for the party and stole Terra for the night to hang out with the other graduates at a bowling alley. Ventus, unfortunately, wasn't old enough to go being only 13, but he didn't mind at all. When Xehanort looked at him and nodded, Ventus joined in with the other adults and sent Terra and Aqua away to have fun on their own for once. Once Ven got home, he was alone with his webcam and Terra and Aqua's clothes from the week-long stay at his house. From there, his hobby was born and tonight was one of those nights he needed to release a couple of things on his mind.

Ventus made sure all the doors were locked in the shop and that the security cameras were on before he went upstairs. He set the shop's alarm to stay and turned off the main lights to show the shop was closed. Once he walked up the stairs to the office on the left, he used his spare keys Eraqus had given him when he started working there and unlocked the office and spare bedroom. It was a miracle his parents let him actually stay at the coffee shop from time to time to do late-night assignments, but that was only because Aqua or Terra would stop by to check on him. With Terra being in college and Aqua being a high school senior, they needed a place to study anyway. Libraries are startin' to close earlier nowadays. When Ventus finally entered the office, he logged in, turned on his webcam, and setup his new vlog for the day.

* * *

Thursday, May 4, 2016

10:47 PM

Category: Rage

Topic: My Ankle

Vlogger: The Other Friend

Hey, guys, this is Friend. You know, I'd rather not discuss stuff while I'm still mad 'cause I get really biased at times and overthink shit, but _today_ was one of dem DAYS where there ain't no bias here. You wanna why? I don't _ever_ want to see another end-of-the-year writing assignment AGAIN! No, never again! I'm done! **I'm done**.

Picture this. I'm sitting outside eatin' my lunch, basking in the sun's glory like a big turtle - a HUGE, dehydrated turtle - and I stop for a minute to proofread this paper that's due tomorrow. As I'm sittin' there, looking over my rough draft, Lea texted me with that stup - why do people send you the all question mark text? Just ask me your damn question so the day can go by without me havin' to guess at what you tryin' to say.

 **Time skip** : I text back "Outside. Proofreadin essay." And went back to eatin' my sandwich. So, Lea and Isa came over and looked over my draft. Isa did his draft about a week after me and he was almost done, so we were just comparing thoughts and all that. Lea bein' Lea was just starin' at us like "Man, I can't wait 'til ya'll done. 'Cause I'm copyin' the shit outta dem papers!" Out of the kindness of my heart, I passed Lea some extra notes I wrote for the draft knowin' he ain' startin' the paper 'til either late at night, which means he'll probably swing by the coffee shop some time tonight, or early in the morning, which means he'll probably sneak out the house and come here at like 4 or 5 in the morning.

Yes, folks, he has a computer at his house. Why he comes over here to use the computer? I don't friggin know. My guess is he wants the coffee or tea or energy drinks I be drinkin' to keep him up. That's really the only reason Terra and Aqua come over here late at night. They got computers at home, too. Mind you, I have my laptop at home, too. But I can't do work at home. Once I'm home, **I'm home**. Me and that bed is makin' _sweet love_ at the end of the night. I'm sleepin' the sleep of the just afterwards. I wanna go home now and induce a friggin coma, but this paper due tomorrow and it need to be finished like ASAP.

* * *

Ventus's cell phone rings right then, and he opens his phone to see the caller. Of course, it's Lea. Before he can even respond to him, three other messages come in at the same time. Apparently, Lea, Isa, Aqua and Terra are coming by in another hour. Once he responded to everyone in a group text, another text came his way from Zack.

He got his number a little bit after Terra's graduation party before they left to the bowling alley. He didn't realize he wanted to be friends with everyone in Terra's gang. Ventus understood why Zack would want to get close to Terra just to get to Aqua. But why Ventus, too?

Ventus responded to Zack, saying he'll let everyone inside from the back door in another hour.

* * *

Lea'll be here in another hour. See what I mean?

 **Time skip** : After I gave Lea the notes, this dude Vanitas comes by and snatches my paper off the bench I'm sittin' on. Mind you, I got a spare rough draft waitin' for me in this office just in case somebody ruins my paper with whatever. Matter fact, I got two spares. I wasn't playin' with this paper. Dr. Even is really tryin' to fail us. I'm not lyin'! Someone in class - I think it was some chick - was asking Dr. Even about her rough draft just to get it checked so she can revise it later. I swear to it. This dude took that girl's paper, walked to his office in the back, and put that shit through the **shredder** in front the whole class! Bruh, everybody was like... Yo! What are you doin'?

This man said, "If I see another draft with another introductory sentence that starts off with 'This essay is...' It's going in the shredder or the trash."

DUDE! Why didn't you just say that in the beginning? The girl has to write the whole draft over from friggin scratch and get your feedback all over again! Bruh, I thought the girl was about to break down in tears from the look on her face, so I went up to her and told her she could work with me. I lent her my notes, extra reading material, feedback, everything. I forgot the girl's name, but I was too through with Dr. Even. Everybody was rewritin' the paper that SECOND. I looked over my essay so fast to see the intro paragraph I almost got whiplash. Luckily, I didn't start my paper or my spares off with whatever he was bitchin' about but I mean... dude...

 **Time skip** : Back to Vanitas and his punk ass. This dude took my paper, skimmed over like the first three sentences, and put it in his bag like it was a worksheet. I stared up at this dude like, "Bitch, what are you doing?"

This ass of a dirty monkey said, "This looks as close to an A as anybody is gonna get. I'm takin' it off your hands."

Isa comes up and says, "Uh, first off, that's _not_ your paper. You don't take people stuff unless they give the okay. What are you doin'?"

Vanitas said, "I'm usin' this as a reference. Ain't that right, boyfriend?"

I said, "Who? I wish I **would** catch myself in the same room as you like that!"

And this bitch said, "We already been in a room together, baby. It's only a matter of time before it goes further. We already go to the same summer camp."

Let's take a moment and evaluate my level of coolness at that moment. Look to the nearest window in the room you're sitting in right now. It don't have to be that far, but I tell you what. My cool was out the mother- _finger lickin' chicken_ window! However far that window is from you, that's how far my cool left me before it was gone in that instant.

I guess Vanitas caught the angry energy in my face 'cause he did this little smug smirk he never fails to do before I chased his ass across the damn country! I was at the back of his heels like an inch away from his hair before campus security had to come out to stop us. We was movin'! Right when I got just enough distance to yank this bitch by the hair and pull him back, I got my ASS handed to me by this big, buff, Betty Spaghetti by the head campus cop named Aeleus. He got me in like this headlock and tossed me to the side, but me not lookin' I fell on this piece of gravel in the yard. _All_ that grass in that back part of campus and I got to fall on the **one sliver** of cement that destroyed half my leg. Bruh, my ankle was so through with me I had to go to the nurse to see if it was broken.

So, after I went to the nurse and Vanitas went to detention, I had to wait for somebody to come get me so I could get my ankle x-rayed to check for fractures. Thank the high heavens, it wasn't actually broken. To my surprise, Terra left school to come take me to the local clinic a little ways off. Ankle was fractured, so I had to lay off it for a few hours. No school for me. Terra brought me to his dorm room, which I've never gone to 'cause he never lets me really visit him and he always comes by my house, and he let me lounge around in his bed. He was typing up a paper for one of his English classes, so he didn't really have time to talk. I went on ahead and started reading some of his textbooks that were still in the bed. Of course, out of all the books that could have been laid out, I find one of these adult novels about - I don't know - some uppity princess not wantin' to give in to this peasant boy. I tossed that one to the side because I really wasn't interested. Maybe it's just me, but I don't want to read or watch other people do stuff. I want to experience it for myself, you know?

 **Time skip** : I found this vacation planning guide that Terra scribbled on and saw Aqua's name on it. It looked like they were trying to go to Destiny Islands for like a date or something. I didn't know they were dating, so I skimmed over the details before shoving the brochure in his printed porn when Terra turned around. Nothing else was of real interest to me, so I grabbed some books out of my bag and started reading my own stuff. The girl who I helped after Dr. Even shredded her paper wound up calling - not calling, I meant texting - me to tell me she had my draft after Vanitas got an F for trying to cheat.

I was like "HA! Guess who I ain't gotta see this summer!" I started doin' a little dance in Terra's bed.

Terra said, "What is happening over there?"

I said, "Vanitas gotta repeat English II for stealing my paper. Karma is a biatch! But let me stop because I'm sayin' that now, but as soon as I leave this room I bet you somethin' stupid will end up happenin' to me."

He broke out laughin'. Anyways, it came time for me to go to work, so I asked Terra to bring me home so I could change clothes. He told me no because of my ankle.

I said, "Big T, I love you to death but this paper is due **tomorrow**. I got stuff to do."

Right then, Isa called me to see where I was so he could see me. Of course, Aqua called right after that. I told them I was by Terra, but I needed to go home to change into my work clothes. Whenever I do late-night assignments, I always go by Eraqus Coffee Shop. One, he pays me; two, I get free drinks; last of all, I can stay overnight if I have to because he got that extra bedroom he used to use when he had to do auditing or taxes.

 **Time skip** : I ended up begging Terra to drop me off home so I could make it to work.

I was like "Terra, for real, I _gotta_ finish this paper **tonight**. Please, drop me off home. I'll let you kiss my ankle better later. Please, Big T! What I gotta do to get you to bring me home?"

As soon as I said that last part, this dude looked at me with this calculative glance like an idea hit him upside the head. I saw his eyebrow do this thing where it rises but it curls some kind of way like he wants something in return for whatever it is he has to do.

He got up, walked kind of slow-like to me, climbed on TOP of me, and said, "I could think of a few things."

WWHHAAAAATTT!?

I must've been loud as a foghorn 'cause I scooted back to the headboard so fast and said, "You like men?"

See, you guys, already know I'm bisexual from the last few vlogs I did. I started respondin' to both genders equally when Terra hugged me and when Aqua kissed me at my graduation. Even when I returned the favor, the feeling was still there. Once I got into high school, I started datin' Namine all freshmen year until she called it off and then I dated Isa for a good while until I called it quits because I didn't want to come into conflict with Lea. I'm comfortable with either gender, but to hear that **Terra** , one of the _most gorgeous_ men I've ever known, is trying to start something with ME is like... WWHHAAAAATTT!?

 **Time skip** : Terra dropped his voice a bit and said, "No, but I like you."

I said with almost god-like speed, "Baby, I would love to take you out to dinner and movie or somethin', but this paper gotta be done **tonight** or I'm Vanitas' boyfriend the WHOLE summer long. I would _hate_ to have to deny that body and let it go to waste, but I can't take Dr. Even's class a second time. Please, Terra, bring me home. I promise I will take care of that statue you call a body when the paper is done."

Bruh... why Terra crawled towards me like a big cat, took me by the knees, spread me apart, and whispered in my ear, "Your parents better be gone Saturday night."

WWHHAAAAATTT!? Somebody take me to Jason's backyard RIGHT NOW so he can cut off my ankle!

* * *

Right as Ventus' phone rings, he checks the time on his watch to see it's 11:56 PM and checks the security camera's footage.

Lea, Isa, and Aqua are at the back door with their cell phones out.

* * *

Well, you guys, I'm cuttin' this vlog short tonight. Hopefully, karma doesn't kick me in the ass and ruins my Saturday night. Let me let these people in, though. Peace out, ya'll. Let the winds of chance carry you away.


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Note: Honestly speaking, the first chapter wasn't so bad. I found myself laughing at some of it. Probably because I kind of talk the way these characters do. So, fun fact, Ventus' vlog was actually based on this teacher I'll leave unnamed who ripped up my classmate's paper because he started off the paper with one word. The teacher said be creative. I thought a one-word sentence was kind of different for a school essay, so I thought nothing of it. As soon as I heard that RIP! Everyone and their brother was staring at this dude like "Damn..." But, let it be known, we HUSTLED to change our papers. It sucked for the guy to be made an example of, but we all learned from that. Yeah, the teacher was evil. We _knew_ that teacher was evil... but no one failed that class, tho. We were horrible people back then.

I love how I can use that line and still relate it back to this. XD Anyway, ya'll enjoy this new chapter. We've got a new vlogger to get in to. Oh, I was supposed to warn you guys last time. Some of this does contain yaoi but not all of it. It varies from person to person. I just kind of put what works best with what and who. For Ventus, I can _see_ him being bisexual and not caring because he's a people person. He's an attractive guy in the sense that people are drawn to him - male or female. That just worked out for him. For my new vlogger, it's more or less the same thing.

* * *

Well, another evening has gone by and there's only a few more to go before Blitzball camp starts. Tidus wasn't really interested in Blitzball this year, though. He was in his room lying on the bed and letting his phone charge a little bit longer before he started using his camcorder. He just finished his math homework, so he had nothing to do for a while. On the bright side, his dad just left to get the Blitzball roster completed at school, so that left him and Auron alone for a while until he got back. This was why Tidus was eager to have his phone fully charged. His new vlog for the evening was definitely his most interesting by far. That's only because it was more real to himself. Tidus didn't mind bragging on himself or being completely naïve. His friend, Sora, was pretty much the same. Wakka and Riku were a little more laidback, but Sora and him? Nah, they brags about themselves. Tonight, though? Nope, he wasn't braggin' on himself tonight. It was all about his babysitter, Auron. While his dad was away, this man was usually here to stay. It's why he was starting not to care too much for Blitzball anymore. He loved the sport and was hella good at it, but it wasn't in him. He wanted to mature up a bit. Sora was on his way to doing the same.

"Did you finish your homework, Tidus?" Auron asked from the door. Tidus looked up from his bed and locked eyes with the older man before nodding to him in response. Auron then said, "I'm going to the grocery store for a little while. Do you need anything?"

"Um..." Tidus replied, standing up to walk into his bathroom. "I need toothpaste, mouthwash, and shampoo. I am almost _out_ -out."

"Hm..." Auron hummed, looking off to the side.

Tidus turned around to see Auron looking off to the side as if he were contemplating on whether or not he should say more. It was almost cute. No, it was adorable on his part. The poor baby's shy.

Tidus finally decided to disrupt Auron's thoughts and asked, "You alright, big guy?"

Auron looked at him and then asked with some hint of nervousness, "Is there... anything _else_... you might need?"

Tidus smirked a bit when the man turned to the side and went to walk out of the door if he said no, but Tidus was far from saying no to him. The teen sauntered over to the man, watching him stiffen when Tidus got close enough to blow on the man's neck to cool or warm his skin, and whispered low enough to where only Auron could hear him.

"Yeah," he said, making Auron turn to look at him. It looked like he was anticipating something horrific before Tidus jumped back and said, "Massage oil. Preferrably an oil blend."

"An... oil blend?" Auron repeated, trying to decipher the boy's language like it was Old World Spanish.

"Yes, there's this brand called TouchFire," Tidus says, looking for a notepad on his dresser with a pen already attached to it. When he finds it, he scribbles down the name of the store his item is located in and continues speaking, "Go down Pleasantry until you get to Wales. At the corner is like this vitamin shop. You want the Ylang Ylang, grapeseed, and vanilla extract blend."

Auron went back to his silent musing before finally complying with Tidus's request for a massage oil that he didn't recall the boy using EVER and looking down at the paper with the boy's instructions. He seemed more relaxed that Tidus asked for something so small but some part of him wouldn't allow him to leave the teen unattended for whatever reason. Not that Tidus couldn't take care of himself, he has been brushing up on his fighting skills. It was something else in the back of his mind telling him not to leave yet. Tidus was too... calm, obedient. Which is what probed his next question.

"Did you have sex with someone else at school recently?" This made Tidus pick up an eyebrow and lock eyes with his man-nanny. Only Jecht is allowed to call him that, but dammit Auron didn't know what to do anymore! The kid's just staring at him like he asked something stranger than strange. It's nerve-wracking! Auron gave up on the question and said, "Never mind. It's none of my business anyway. It wasn't any of my business before."

"Don't tell my dad, but I recently signed up for fencing, kendo and the JROTC," Tidus said, straightening coat as though it were a suit jacket. "I hear you're good at training students in those areas."

"That is a terrible idea!" Auron replied, stiffening greatly at the mention of his two specialties.

Tidus simply grinned and snuck a kiss onto Auron's lips before saying, "I kinda need that oil now. Maybe you should go to a spa or something. You're stiff as a board."

Auron didn't even bother wasting his time in that room anymore. Tidus wanted to laugh at how fast the older man scrammed outta there, but he was enjoying torturing his nanny A LOT. Probably too much from the looks of it. He wondered if Auron was going to take his advice and actually approach the front door of a spa. Since Auron was so freaked out by his advances, Tidus took it upon himself to stalk the man and make his new vlog a two-parter. First, however, he was going to ease his way to his bed and start recording on why Auron was so shy today.

* * *

Friday, May 5, 2016

6:52 PM

Category: Relationships

Victim: Auron

Vlogger: The Look-a-Like

Hey. Alright, let me get this over with 'cause I got a fantastic evening waitin' for me tonight. As you know, I'm a bragger. I LOVE braggin' on myself to the point where other people brag for me sometimes, but there's a lot of truth behind it. For me, I can't just talk about stuff I do and wind up not doin' it. That kills my game completely, you know? If I say I can get a new number from a boy or a girl any day of the week, I should be able to pick a day at random and get with that person on site. That's just me. It's kind of like that with me, Wakka, Sora, and Riku. We been cool since almost the diaper age. We go to the same school and shit anyway.

 **So get this** : Right around mid-November, me and Sora was hangin' out on the smaller island, right? It's winter time so we decided to make this bond fire and just kind of chill there for a while. I get a dhot text from this girl sayin' she wants to hook up with me sometime. I show Sora the text and he ask me if I'm leavin'.

So I said, "Nah, I'm not really feelin' it today. I want somethin' different, you know?"

Sora asked, "Well, how different are we talkin'? You not into this girl, but would rather another girl altogether?"

So I said, "You know what? I think I want a man this time."

Now, mind you, me and Sora are bisexual. Our friends don't really know that, but we kind of guessed at our sexuality with each other. He understood me. I hate havin' to try to explain that I'm not really gay or straight. It's too confusing after a while. Anyways, we talked for a little while longer and finally went home to the main island. My dad had to leave on business, so he left me with Auron. I think I talked about him already in a previous blog. I gotta go see.

 **So get this** : I don't know what was goin' on with me and my biology clock, but the bitch was _tickin'_. Like... if I didn't get some sex soon, I was implodin' ASAP. Now, any other day, if I needed to get my urges out, I could just go. This girl already called me, so I very easily could've went to her house and got it out the way. Mother-flippin' Nature comes up in her Toyota Thunderstorm XLS, **punches** a cloud in his balls, and all of a sudden the worst storm that's ever hit Destiny Islands has got everybody on freakin' lockdown! So, Auron stopped me from goin' outside altogether.

He said, "Where the hell are you goin' in this storm?"

I said, "A friend called me to study for this holiday assignment. I didn't know it was gonna storm."

He said, "You're gonna have to study another night. The rain's too bad."

At that point, I was over it. I didn't want the sex anymore, but my clock was still goin'. I CAN'T watch porn. I don't even know how people can just sit there and watch that shit. Me and Sora are kind of like two peas in a pod. We can't watch. We gotta do. Hence why we aren't virgins, but those other idiots we call friends don't know what to do with themselves yet. I can't tell you how many times Sora's been fed up with Kairi and Riku flirting with each other but not doing anything. Sora used to like Kairi A LOT, but I guess he just got over it after he went to Keyblade Camp. Shit change when you really get to see the world.

So I went back in my room, completely frustrated and uncomfortable 'cause now my clock is steadily tickin'. I called Sora and told him what was up and he was like, "Man, I remember that feeling back at camp. I wound up hooking up with a dude I didn't even like. Regret it to this day, but I didn't care. I got me."

I said, "Man, bruh, you were never this bold growin' up! Keyblade Camp be poppin' like that?"

He said, "No. I don't know what it is. It's like your body has this deep urge to take care of itself but your mind tryin' to reason with it. When it can't, they both pilot you to do something you'd never do on your own."

That made all the sense in the world to me. In my mind, I really didn't want sex that bad but my body was like, "No, bitch, we gettin' somethin' tonight. I don't care what it is!"

 **So get this** : I was texting Sora back and forth just to get my mind off it, and Auron came in my room to ask me if I was hungry. He was cooking some kind of soup. He had that house smellin' all kinds of good. I said yeah, but you know I'm greedy. I'll eat anything at anytime at anyplace. When I'm hungry, **I'm hungry**. You ain't stoppin' me from turning the fridge upside down so I can dump the shit to my stomach. Anyway, I go in the kitchen to watch Auron and for whatever reason I just watch his arms move around to cut some vegetables and meat. Nothing big. I've seen him do it since I was little, but my clock was ticking faster on this particular night. I just keep watchin' him until finally I break. I can't watch this dude anymore. I get knife and start cuttin' some potatoes. We're in there sharin' this sentimental moment. Right as I'm about to toss the potatoes in the pot, he stops me. He puts his big ole hand on my knuckles and speaks with a low baritone of a voice.

He said, "You gotta cut the skin off."

It was short. It was simple. And it wasn't even that sexy, but you know what? My clock went off SO MOTHER-FLIPPIN' LOUD when he said that. When I tell you I hurried up and just threw the bitches in the soup like my life depended on it, I'm not even jokin'. I hummed that shit in the water and ran outta there like a bat from hell! I must've called Sora about six times before he picked up. I was talkin' so FAST to this dude.

I was like, "Brother man, somethin' ain't right with me. I gotta stay with you for the night. I can't stay here and be sane all at the same time. You gotta help me."

Sora was like, "Whoa, man, slow down! What happened?"

I said, "When the storm clears up, just leave the back door open. I'm sleepin' over."

He said, "Why? What's wrong?"

I said, "Bruh, I was in the kitchen checkin' my freakin' nanny out!"

He said, "WHAT? Who? The old lady on Baker's?"

I said, "No, bitch! Auron!"

Tell me why right when I said his name he popped up in my door. Matter of fact, while you at it, tell me why this dude was lookin' so fine leanin' on my door with that tight black shirt he almost always wears on any given day.

After I stared at this dude for what must've been 20 minutes, I asked him, "Is the soup ready?"

He said, "No. I just came in to see why you ran away."

I said, "Oh, nothing. I just remembered something and freaked out."

That satisfied him for a little while, so he left and went back to the soup. I texted Sora back and forth, begging for him to let me stay at his house. He finally buckled down and said okay. I went to the kitchen to tell Auron, but he wasn't in there. He was on the couch drinking his soup out of a canister like some mountain hiker. I thought that was the sexiest thing in the world for a second and I ran back in my room. I guess Auron heard me so he finally came face to face with me and asked me what was going on.

So I just came out with it. I said, "Look, man," and I took his hand and brought it to my pants.

I'm harder than the top of the ice cube tray, and I guess someone above loves me 'cause I ain't that small of a man. I look short and cute, but not every part of me is short. Rather than have him freak out and snatch his hand back and tell me something stupid about him being homophobic or some shit, he kept his hand there and just looked at me. Like he was asking for an explanation, but the words didn't come out. Finally, I just had it. My favorite thing to do with another person I'm in to is kissing, so I got all up in Auron's business.

Right when I did that, Auron took his hand off my pants and kissed me back... Let us pray. He didn't stop at just kissing me. He took my clothes off and tossed me on the edge of the bed. My clock blew the ever-lovin' fudge UP. Do you hear me? He still didn't stop. He kissed every inch of me, and when I finally got out of this daze he took his shit off. Bruh, when I tell you that man is the sexiest thing to walk, I mean... it was better than porn. I just watched him and when he took his boxer-briefs off? Oh, bitch! That man was thick **every** where. I couldn't do it anymore. I had to give it to him. You can tell when a dude is in to what you're doing. They grab on to whatever part they can reach on you. My hair was in his reach. When he couldn't hold back anymore, he pulled me up and laid me back down on that edge. I could see it in his face. He was about to give me the BUSINESS!

Bruh, when this angel sheathed his sword into my scabbard, my clock was GONE. He took me to the MOON! I was in my room screaming so loud, you'd of thought it was a crime scene. And the verdict? A happy soul. We must've done it at least 10 times before the rain cleared out. I didn't care. That rain couldn't do me like Auron was doin' me. This dude had me in three positions per round. Now, I don't know if his clock was ticking, too. I ain't complainin' either. As far as I'm concerned, he gave me the business. After our last round, we both were outdone. He wore himself out so bad, he just laid on my side. Couldn't even move.

Finally, he whispered in that low baritone, "Got an extra pillow?"

And I said, "Just take mine."

He could have all my damn pillows. He could have my MATTRESS. He could have the damn room. I was good for the night. Sora sent me a text asking if I still wanted to come over to his house, and I said I was good. I made my peace. After that, Auron took my phone, put it on the charger, took my pillow, put it under his head, took me by the shoulder and put my head on his chest. About a minute later, he was sleep and I followed right behind him. That had to be the best sex EVER. Since then, I cooled off on the dating and sex scene completely. If I wanted it, I punched my clock in its ass and rewound it to remember that night.

 **So get this** : Now, since then, Auron's been kinda shy about bein' alone with me in the same room. I can't even lie to ya'll. I was freaked out for the longest because I just slept with my dad's best friend. Sora finally got it out of me around January or February. I didn't know what to do. I didn't even know what to say. I hadn't actually flirted with Auron or really spoke to him since then so I just left it alone as a one-night stand. On Valentine's Day, I was getting something for Selphie and Kairi. All the boys in our group do that. While I was out, Auron sent me a text. Reading it off-hand, it looks like a regular text 'cause he callin' me 'round lunchtime on a Saturday but my clock read it differently.

It was a simple text: Wyd?

So I text back: V-Day Shopping for my friends.

He text back: Meet me at my house. Got something for you.

So I go to his house... Let us pray. Auron is wearin' his usual clothes just readin' the newspaper and drinkin' his coffee, but he has a mini buffet at the table. You already know, that's the first thing I hit up. I sat across from him and he ate with me. My clock was ringing again. After I got my fill in, I asked what Auron had for me. He gave me this ball filled with snacks and stuff. I went to tell him thank you and he kissed me. You already know where that went, and it went on for hours. When it's over, I'm about to leave to our V-Day sleepover and Auron calls me back.

He said, "What are you doing tomorrow?"

I said, "Hanging out with my friends. Why? What's on your mind?"

He said, "You. When you get home tomorrow, take your clothes off and meet me in your room."

At that point, I was like Father Time do something for me. Time was goin' so SLOW that whole day. I was talkin' to Sora the whole time while I'm there. He was tellin' me about this dude at Keyblade Camp named Ventus who he found out was doin' vlogs like us, so we made plans to link up with him to see what he vlogs about. The next day, I ran to my house and saw Auron's car parked out front. I didn't want to seem too desperate, so I kind of came up slowly and walked in like no one was there. I made it upstairs completely naked and let Auron do whatever he wanted to do. His clock must've been blazin'. This was our third time goin' at it. It was a good thing school got canceled that Monday 'cause he went in for some morning, noon and night sex. I was so tired by the end of it, I just went to sleep. I was late for class that Tuesday and he was late for work. I don't know what happened to us that whole week, but we were in a full-blown relationship at that point.

Finally, after the thrill passed, we went back to living normally. From there, we didn't actually know what to do around each other anymore. So today, Sora suggested that I do more of what Auron likes and see if that'll attract his attention. There was some reason for him being extra friendly that whole Valentine's Day weekend plus the week. Tonight, the plan is just to train with him like I normally do, give myself a massage, and do as he says for the rest of the night.

* * *

Tidus hears Auron call his name, so that means he's back from shopping. The teen goes downstairs with his camcorder still rolling and catches Auron putting different things on the kitchen table and counter. Tidus points the camcorder at him and starts talking again.

"This is Auron, ya'll," Tidus says, standing behind the man who turns around to nod at the camera. "Badass, right? I gotta go and help this old man put stuff up. Ya'll be cool and I'm signing off."

When Tidus turned the phone off and started putting stuff away, Auron stopped him and whispered in his baritone of a voice, "Ever did a nude, full-body massage?"


	3. Chapter 3

Sora was waiting for his phone to charge to full battery for the night. He had to call Ventus and Tidus before camp started to see if they wanted to collaborate on their vlogs and make them into a thing they could possibly get money for. Blogging is apparently a new career choice in the modern world, so maybe they could make money off their weird worlds. Ventus had some hilarious rage videos and Tidus was wrapped up with his relationship vlogs. Speaking of Tidus, Sora wondered if he should call him to check on his status with Auron. Apparently, his nanny has been taking _real good_ "care" of his friend as of late. There had to be a reason for it, though.

When that tropical storm Darkside hit Destiny Islands, everyone was pretty much locked inside until it passed. Tidus was not having it. Apparently, his clock went off all of a sudden when he got close enough to Auron. He generally calls his sudden case of horniness a biological clock. If it rings then he's in the mood for some lovin'. Real talk that's what he says it means. In all honesty, Sora started calling his own case of horniness the same thing. It fit perfectly. If he's in the mood, it'll beep until he hits the "off" or the "snooze" buttons; otherwise, if he's really in the mood, the alarm will ring as loud as it possibly can until his whole body starts searching for any means to turn it off. When Sora kept badgering Tidus all throughout class time to see what happened between him and the nanny, he found out _real soon_ that Auron shut his shit DOWN. Tidus was so freaked out at having to admit he hooked up with his nanny, tears started welling up and the boys left to the small island in a hurry after dismissal.

He remembered it all like it happened yesterday. It may as well have. It was only two or three months ago. What month was this? May? He got the story out of him like the last week of January, right? Yeah, that's right. So it would be around three or four months ago. Well, either way it goes, three months passed since then. Sora snuck Tidus off the main island and rushed to the nearest boat, which happened to be his fortunately, and then he finally sat him down to talk on the docks.

* * *

[ **Flashback** ]

 _"Tidus, what's wrong? Why'd you start crying?"_

 _"I shouldn't have done it. I knew I should have stopped him, but I wanted it and he wanted it. Then it happened and, when it was over, he wouldn't even look at me," Tidus sobbed, tears coming down his cheeks again._

 _"That evil bastard!" Sora hissed, grabbing Tidus' shoulders to calm him down. "What did he do?"_

 _"He... touched me," Tidus whispered, gesturing at something sexual with his hands. It looked like he was churning butter if you didn't pay attention, but ain't NO butter bein' churned tonight._

 _"He WHAT!?" Sora questioned with anger._

 _"No, not like THAT!" Tidus corrected, seeing Sora's face get red. If he left him alone for a second, Sora would've hopped on that boat immediately and went straight to Auron's house to hurt him. Tidus didn't want that. He wasn't really sure what he wanted in all honesty, but he didn't want either of his friends hurt by his indecisiveness. He then said, "I mean... well, yeah, he touched me in that way but I wanted him to. What the hell am I saying right now!?"_

 _"Tell me from the beginning," Sora said in a more soothing tone. They both needed to calm down for this. He took a deep breath, instructed Tidus to do the same, and then asked, "Okay, what happened?"_

 _"Okay, after we got home, my clock was ringing a little bit," Tidus said, earning a nod from Sora. "I remembered the dhot text from earlier and figured I'd just get it out of the way and go to this chick's house. Then, the friggin storm hit. Auron stopped me from going anywhere, so I went back to my room and just hung around for a while to calm my nerves. My clock was still ticking, so I went downstairs to distract myself. Auron was making soup, so I just watched him for a while. I got tired of watching him so I helped. He said something about the damn potatoes I was cutting and my clock exploded. I couldn't stay around him, so I ran off to call you. He came up to my room to see what was wrong and I told him nothing. He called me down to eat and I went downstairs, but he was doing something else that made the damn clock explode so I ran back to my room. He got fed up with me running around the house, so he asked me what was wrong again. I got frustrated so I put his hand near... me."_

 _"You put his hand on your junk?" Sora questioned in shock like someone had just given him the nuclear launch codes and the password was 'chicken'. Everything revolves around the damn birds and you know it! Sora then asked, "Did he call you a bad name or something? What'd he do?"_

 _"He just stared at me!" Tidus said, grabbing the sides of Sora's face and bringing their faces within inches of each other. Tidus then explained to Sora, "He just looked at me like this. Like he was waiting for something. I never saw him look like that before. When he just stood there, I got even more fed up so I kissed him."_

 _Sora put his hands on top of Tidus' and pulled them away from his face. He looked into his friend's conflicted gaze and waited for him to say more. Tidus' eyes widened when he saw the look on Sora's face. His blue eyes reminded him of Auron's questioning brown ones which made him drop to his knees and sit on the sand. He drew one of his knees up to his chest and just sat there. His eyes searching for the answers to his predicament on the shores of the small island._

 _"I take it that's when everything happened, huh?" Sora then replied, sitting next to him._

 _"Yeah," Tidus answered with a soft sigh. "I tried treating it like it was nothing because I thought that's what he wanted. I woke up that morning and acted like my normal self. Dad came home, Auron was talking to him about blitzball, and I just lazed around upstairs doin' whatever. I changed my bed sheets and everything so no one would catch the scent, but that turned into me cleaning my damn room. All normal stuff. But then he... Dad asked him if I could stay over last week while he was gone on a business trip. Everything seemed fine and when I got there... When I got there... He wouldn't even look at me."_

* * *

Believe him, Sora was infuriated after he heard that. He wouldn't let Tidus go anywhere near Auron after their conversation on the small island. They pretty much stayed together up until that Valentine's Day. The sleepover was held at Selphie's place, so Sora just stuck with Tidus to help him through the confusion and frustration of his supposed one-night stand with his nanny/guardian. Auron, however, surprised them both when he pursued Tidus that Valentine's Day because apparently Tidus was in a hurry for the sleepover to be over. When he rushed home, he and Auron started a rather short-lived relationship purely based on sex.

Sora was curious, though. Why even bother hooking up with a horny teenage boy from the get-go? Why chase him down and start something with him all of a sudden afterwards? The whole story wasn't being drawn out, so Sora being the great friend he is told Tidus his suspicions of the man. From what he knew of Auron, the man had a very critical eye and was a no-nonsense kind of figure. He was very cautious of who entered his life and had no problem taking people who didn't belong in it out of it. He also had a good sense of humor and was celibate for several years. No, not like four or five. We're talking decades as in maybe 20 years of his sex life just flat-lining. It ain't comin' back! For someone who vowed to stay away from anything sexual to just throw all of it away in a single night and then turn around to say "Know what? F these vows." That's weird. Not to say Tidus is an unattractive boy, but Sora has seen Auron without a shirt on twice. That is pure man under that red cloak getup he wears on a daily basis.

"Oh my gosh! I forgot to call Cloud!" Sora yelped, snatching his phone off the charger and checking the battery.

It was at 48%, but Sora thought that was enough. He unlocked his phone and spotted Cloud's number in his contacts before hitting the tab and pressing the phone icon. Oh, you want to know how he knows Cloud? Well, last summer, he, Tidus, and Wakka went to the Olympus Coliseum together to see Auron's match in the Hades Cup. Cloud and another guy named Sephiroth were the main reason so many people were showing up that year. Not to say Auron couldn't hold his own against them because he was a beast, but Sora had a tiny crush on Cloud when he strolled in as a new contender. Something about that tall, handsome, and brooding ordeal just does something for him. Weird, right? Wanna know what's weirder?

Okay, let's get out the weird, rare, never-could-happen-a-second-time, penny-for-your-thoughts moment in Sora's history. At the Olympus Coliseum, the president of the games, Phil, was allowing amateur fighters to compete against championship fighters. It was a big fundraiser thing for the Mouseketeers summer camp. Riku had to volunteer to support the fundraiser at the camp's location in Disney Castle so he couldn't make it to the games. Sora had to remember to call him, too. Apparently, some guy named Xehanort, who was Yen Sid's old homie, spotted him and wants him to try out for his Keyblade Camp. The poster boy for his camp was some guy named Vanitas.

Back to their weird moment, Sora decided to take his chances as an amateur fighter and entered a small 10-round tournament. Cloud was the final round. While the blonde seemed more to himself, he admitted to being slightly impressed by his determination to fight. Then, that fight happened. Dat Sonic Blade, tho? Tough shit.

 **Hello?**

"Hey, Mr. Strife!" Sora cheerfully greeted. "How's training goin'?"

 **... I keep forgetting you have my number. I'm not in the Phil Cup this time. I'm in the next cup.**

"Aw," Sora groaned, more than disappointed. Phil was a harsh guy! He then asked, "What happened?"

 **I think it had something to do with Phil's rival, Hades. He let some monster out at Phil's headquarters and trashed some part of town. Phil and Hercules are helping rebuild right now. This small tournament is more like a charity thing.**

"Kinda like how I met you?" Sora asked. He suddenly realized what he just said and quickly took it back by saying, "Ignore that tone! I didn't mean it like that! That was sappy! I'm sorry!"

 **It's okay. Are you going to compete in the Phil Cup? Phil's looking for new fighters so he can get more supporters. If his tournaments are successful, he can start releasing brands and earn money for a major annual tournament. He's calling it the Philympics, I think.**

"Pfft!" Sora spat out before chuckling uncontrollably. "Nice name!"

 **It's more satirical than nice.**

Sora guffawed at the dry humor and said, "Cue the drums. So what're you gonna do in the meantime, Mr. Strife? The next cup sounds like it's an end of the summer kind of thing."

 **The Hercules Cup is next year in the summer. Phil only does spring and summer tournaments. Winters are too rough at headquarters. Hades takes fall and winter tournaments. From what I've heard, they're planning a major cup in 2018. It's supposed to determine whether or not both companies can open their first annual collaboration in 2020.**

"So the new fighters that Phil and Hades want are gonna be in the roster for that major cup?" Sora questioned curiously.

 **That's what I'm guessing. You should think about it. Phil's already thinking of offering you some training after your amateur fighter performance. If you pass tryouts, you might get a contract. The athletics in the coliseum pay pretty good. A friend of mine's saving up for college right now. She's almost set for her entire four-year program.**

"Really? That's awesome!" Sora complimented. He started to hum with thought and then said, "Yeah, I'll sign up."

 **Good.**

"Oh, wait, Mr. Strife," Sora interrupted, stopping the blonde from hanging up. He never said bye or anything. He just spoke a last word and that was it. Sora then asked, "You never said what you'd be doing since you've got a whole year until your next tournament."

 **I go back to work at Hollow Bastion. If you want a summer job, go to Traverse Town and look for a guy named Cid in the Accessories Shop. He's looking for part-time workers. Try to catch a train that'll get you there for at least 1:30. He likes taking long lunches at 2. You just need that half-hour to fill out an application and hand in a resume. He doesn't ask hard questions. Between training and working, you should be busy for a while until school starts again.**

"How intense is the training exactly? We're implying it'll suck my time dry."

 **Depends. No one I know has done training with Phil before with exception to maybe Hercules, but Hercules is also the top athlete in the coliseum. His royalties from future endorsements is looking pretty good if this collab makes it through. You make it through training with Phil, your future is golden. If you want some pre-training, wait in the town square. Leon'll come find you.**

"Leon, huh?" Sora said, raising an eyebrow with some thought. "Okay. First, find Cid for a summer job; then, let Leon find me for training. Easy! Thanks, Mr. Strife! You know, to say you keep to yourself a lot, you're the most helpful person I've met from the coliseum. Other than Auron, I mean."

 **How is the old man? I heard he's dating again after 3 billion years in the sticks.**

"Dati - ? Oh! Tidus!" Sora belted out, looking at the time. "Hey, I'll have to call you back. I completely forgot to ask about what happened with that. Will you please go out to lunch with me when I get out of school? You promised to think about it."

 **... Won't people find it strange for a grown man to be friends with a kid?**

"Auron's my friend and he's okay with it," Sora said with a pout.

 **Really...? Tell you what. You find out who Auron's dating, I'll give you a present. If you do that and beat Leon, I'll give you two presents. If you do both and get Cid to hire you, I will go on - and follow me on this - ONE - and I mean it - date with you at that restaurant in Traverse Town. Now, do not get -**

"YES! I will take it! Thank you, Mr. Strife! You won't regret a thing!"

 **... Overexcited...**

"Are we allowed to kiss?"

 **No.**

"Please!" Sora begged on his knees as if the man were there. "No tongue, I promise!"

 **No, I do NOT kiss on the first date nor EVER.**

"But Mr. Strife - !"

 **No.**

Sora huffed out his disappointment but smiled regardless. At least he was promised an actual date and not an 'I'll pass' like last time. He then pouted and said, "Fine, but no baby toys like that Chocobo plush you gave me for making a hundred on my math test. That exam was hard!"

 **Deal. Now, remember your objectives. Fish out Auron's secret beau, beat Leon, and get that job from Cid. You don't do all three, you don't get that date. I don't even know why I'm agreeing to this, and I thought you liked that plush.**

"I do," Sora cheerfully said. "It's on my bed right now."

 **You're impossible! I'm done.**

"Night, Cloud! I mean, Mr. Strife!" Sora corrected, smiling brightly.

When Cloud hung up without a word, Sora leapt out of his bed and went hunting for something sexy to wear for that date. He was not losing to whoever the hell Leon was and he wasn't leaving Traverse Town until Cid gave him that job. Traverse Town was his new favorite place. When Sora realized he had to get info on Auron's significant other, he stopped throwing clothes behind him and rushed to his cellphone again. He called Tidus and waited for him to pick up. At first, he didn't answer. It wasn't until Sora called a third time when he finally did.

 **This is the most attractive blitzball player this side of Destiny Islands. How may I help you?**

"Cloud said he'll go on a date with me!" Sora blurted out. Well, that happened.

 **WHAT?** Tidus shouted more than questioned.

"I know right!" Sora said, too excited to care about Auron's sex life. Now that he's thinking about it, ew...

 **Auron, I'll be right back!** Tidus shouted, not even bothering to wait to see the man's questioning gaze. He ran to wherever he needed to go based on what Sora could hear from his panting over the phone and then said, **Spill.**

"I just got off the phone with him. We were talking about the upcoming tournaments in the Olympus Coliseum, and he started giving me these details about new fighters and training and part-time summer jobs. Then I asked him if he thought about that lunch thing I told you about after the whole amateur fight thing. Just now, we were talking about Auron. He said he heard Auron finally climbed out his man cave and went back into the dating ring."

 **Yeah, with me.**

"And then he - " Sora stopped immediately and let Tidus' words register in his head. Both lines were silent for a moment until Sora finally said, "What?"

 **He just asked me out a moment ago. Before we got out of the car to get some hardware stuff, I mean.**

Sora's eyes widened a bit before they settled to a happy smile. That's why Auron was so cozy with his friend. He was acting on some hidden feelings. He then said, "Oh my god. Oh my god! That's great! Well, is he goin' public with it or - ?"

 **We don't know yet. We don't want to go public right now, but he said he's thinking about it.**

Sora kept his smile and then sighed. He said, "Well, guess I'm not goin' on that date."

 **What? Why?**

"You're not ready yet," Sora said. "You're my friend. I'm not gonna expose you just for a date with some guy I met a year ago. That's horrible! Plus, digging up dirt was part of getting the date. That's a low blow anyway."

 **What are you gonna do then? I feel kinda bad that you still don't get that date.**

"I'll live," Sora said with a chuckle. "Cloud's getting me prepped for training with Phil anyway. I'm trying out to be a new fighter!"

 **Are you serious? Dude, that's awesome! Auron gets paid nicely as a tournie fighter. Is Phil offering a contract for new fighters?**

"That's what I'm looking into when I get to Traverse Town. Cloud set up a sparring session for me with some guy he knows. I think his name's Leon," Sora informed, excited about going into training. Even though he can't get a date with Cloud, he can still prove his strength to Phil. He then said, "If I beat him, Cloud said he'd give me something as a reward."

 **If it's another Chocobo plushie, kick his ass.**

"I already told him. That plushie he gave me was huge," Sora said with a serious tone.


	4. Chapter 4

After talking everything over with Tidus, Sora didn't really want to call anyone else tonight. He was happy that he and Auron were a thing now, even though he wanted to kick the old man's ass for ignoring poor Tidus in the beginning. Dick move, bro. Dick move! But, in spite of it all, he wanted something special from Tidus and Sora was right in assuming that. He hoped maybe one day Cloud would want something special from him. If asking him out multiple times wasn't enough, what else could he do other than visibly stalking him? Speaking of said blonde, Sora decided to look up information on the Phil Cup and contracts for new fighters. That's where Moogle comes in. More power to the people who made that giant search engine.

Fortunately, they had monetary values up. Yes, he knows what monetary means. Impressed? He was at how much top 10 fighters get paid. If a fighter, or really a gladiator, makes it through the preliminaries, he or she can compete to be a top 5 finalist. Finalists compete in 10 seed matches for placing. Gladiators who place 4th or lower are paid 11,170 munny for participating in the seed matches. Third place and up get bonus pay and other rewards to be discussed with the athletics committee. Well, no wonder Tidus said Auron gets paid nicely for competing in the ring. That explains that expensive-ass Toyota he drives! If Auron gets paid like that for matches, Cloud must be living in a penthouse suite somewhere. There wasn't much on any future cups, but there was a slight handful of information for new fighters. Applications had to be filled out by hand before submission to Phil in person. Otherwise, tryouts were in two weeks!

"Crap!" Sora exclaimed, running upstairs to his room. He quickly called Cloud's number again and waited until the blonde answered. He mumbled to himself repeatedly, "Pick up, pick up, pick up."

 **Yes, Sora?**

"Dude, two weeks!" Sora exclaimed incredulously. "Two weeks is too soon! That's two weeks too soon! I can't just show up to Phil with two weeks of basic training before a big cup!"

 **Really? Seems like your kind of thing.**

"Just for that, I'm gonna find you at your job and sing love songs to you in front of people," Sora threatened.

 **... You wouldn't dare...**

"I just so happen to know plenty of Celine Dion's work," Sora growled, almost seductively. He could hear Cloud inhaling deeply at the notion of someone singing to him in front of his coworkers before he spoke up again.

 **... Know what? I think you'll be just fine even with the short time frame.**

"Are you kidding me?" Sora shouted more than questioned.

 **When I met you, I thought you were just some scrawny kid looking for a shot at stardom like all the other brats I usually see. Forget the fact that you looked like a dork.**

"Hey!" Sora complained, knowing the blonde was smirking at him.

 **You came onto that ring with no prior training other than swordfights with your friend. That's what you told me. You didn't care about losing. You cared about testing your strength - strength that came from the heart. It's what makes you the best kind of competitor in the coliseum. It's why you have the greatest amount of potential for this kind of chance. If you can fight a professional with no training and be acknowledged by the trainer of heroes, you can get through tryouts on short notice and pass them.**

Sora gasped at Cloud's words and blushed. He really believed in him so strongly? Sora smiled and then chuckled a little before saying, "Thanks, Cloud. I guess I'll have to change my diet. I'm _not_ a scrawny, little brat! Or a dork!"

 **I'd do some research on specialized diets first before cutting out meat and dairy. Hang on for a second. Leon!**

"Oh," Sora said, trying to tune in to hear Leon's voice over the phone. It was essentially useless since all he would hear is muffling, but he did hear multiple voices arguing with Cloud. If only he could see through phone lines!

 **... Leon'll meet you at 6:30 pm. Don't be late.**

"Right!" Sora nodded, determination written on his features. "Oh, Mr. Strife, about that date. I'm gonna hafta call it off. I can't tell you who Auron's dating."

 **Don't sweat it, kid.**

"Actually, I think I'm gonna stop bothering you about it," Sora regretfully admitted.

Cloud hummed in disbelief. Yeah, like Sora would ever give up. He's a frequent caller and texter next to his friends in Hollow Bastion. The blonde then asked, **Really? You seemed so persistent.**

"Don't get me wrong, I still really like you. You're a good person," Sora huffed when Cloud snorted at the compliment. He then continued, "Hear me out. You never stop thinking about the people you care about even though you're screwed up, and you still protect others even though you could give hell about them. That means deep down something gets you to care. Since I know it bothers you that you're being hit on by a kid now, I'll just stop."

Before he could get another sentimental thing out, someone snatched the phone away from Cloud and was huffing into the speaker. Sora could tell this was the case because Cloud was yelling at the thief to return his phone immediately. From the sound of it, he might have had his giant broad sword out and ready to go at a moment's notice. It definitely didn't sound good for the thief.

 **Hey, this is Sora, right?**

Who, apparently, was a girl. He replied, "Uh, yes?"

 **Don't stop asking Cloud out! He needs something in his life other than fighting and work! So does Leon. They're like two peas in a weird pod or some shit. Cloud's really into starry nights, so, after whatever it is he has you doing in Traverse Town, come to Hollow Bastion. I'm gonna wear him out as much as I can 'til then. Trust me, he'll be way too tired and too hungry to say no anymore. Oh shit!**

"Should I call for help?" Sora asked hurriedly after hearing wheels screeching on pavement. Cloud must've caught up to the girl via some kind of vehicle. That's really not good!

 **Ha! Gotcha bitch!** After that, the huffing came back much faster than before. Maybe she escaped somehow. **Naw, everything's cool. I think his tires are running flat by now. I'm gonna duck in here... Hang on...** Sora was actually pretty nervous for the girl. Cloud's a tough fighter and he loves his motorcycles. You don't go slashing his baby's tires. **Okay, I'm gonna send the word out to Aerith and Leon. We'll keep Cloud busy until we move back to Traverse Town. We're actually meeting up with Cid there to help open pit stops. You know Cloud's a gladiator, right?**

"Y-yeah?" Sora responded.

 **Well, so are me and Leon! We're in the Pain and Panic Cup this fall. I think it's great that Cloud wants Leon to train you. He's a tough match but he's good at making his opponents use strategy to beat him. If you can get used to his fighting style, everything else will be smooth as butter. Promise! Oh shit, they've got flashlights!**

"I'm callin' the cops," Sora suggested, pushing the dial pad icon on his phone.

 **No! Leon _is_ a cop! You don't want none o' him when he's mad!**

"Is there a back entrance you can sneak out of?" Sora asked, now kind of scared for the girl.

 **Yup. Good idea, Sora. Shit, shit, shit!**

Sora didn't know why he was getting nervous but the conversation was getting pretty exciting. Whoever this girl was seemed to have a knack for getting into trouble, but if the huffing was any indication she could get out of trouble just as easily. When everything seemed to calm down, the girl came back on the line.

 **You know, I like you, Sora. You're not even here and I'm having fun already. You really should think about signing up for the games. It'd be nice having someone with a sense of adventure on the gladiator team for a change. Most of these fighters are bbboooorrrriiiiinngg! Cloud's a brick wall made out of 5% pain in the ass, 20% concrete and 75% emo. Aerith and Tifa are mother geese, even though Tifa can kick your ass and Aerith's a pacifist. Don't get me started on Leon. Guy's a broken record with his "Don't friggin call me Squall" bit.**

"That's weird. I didn't know Cloud had this many friends," Sora said, scratching the back of his head. "He's never mentioned any of you before."

 **Cloud never mentions anything to anyone! It's that 5% thing.** When she heard Sora laughing, she began to chuckle then laugh herself. **Oh, I never introduced myself. I'm Yuffie, only the most charismatic and badass ninja you've ever met on the phone. If you're ever around in Traverse Town, maybe I'll steal you from Cloud so we can hang out. My trainer's goin' back home to take care of her old man for a while.**

"Know what, Yuffie?" Sora said, feeling his chest puff up. "I'm over dating. Cloud's never going to say yes to any of my offers, and I really want to be a gladiator. Plus, I like you, too. You're pretty different from the gladiators I've spoken to. Everyone's so damn serious!"

 **Ugh! Tell me about it! I can't wait to start college and get away from them. Hey, maybe you can meet my trainer, too! She's pretty cool. She kicks some serious ass, and she's a bit mischievous herself. Sometimes, she lets me bunk with her and her grandpa after practice. Oh my gosh, you have to try her cooking! She has the best-tasting diet dishes to ever hit your tongue. Tifa's a great cook, too, but she's more on the commercial restaurant side of things. Lot o' that stuff you can't really eat 'less it's portion size. But with Chailo*? Mmm, good shit.**

"I'm in!" Sora cheered, chuckling. "Hey, what's Leon like? Does he cook?"

 **Oh my god, never ask him to cook anything. Not even eggs. Did Cloud ever mention Ramen Wednesdays to you?**

"Uh..." Sora thought, coming up with nothing in the end. "Nope, nothing like that."

 **Wanna know why? Cuz it's friggin BANNED! Never again have we had Ramen Wednesdays. We don't let Tifa catch anything _remotely_ related to a cold anymore. It was that bad! I will actually let Cloud have this. We had a group census to never mention it again, but I like you enough to tell you the story in person. Other than that, Leon has his super cute moments. He loves - absolutely adores - puppies. Oh my gosh and kittens? Send an angel down and kiss me! I don't know what it is about baby animals but he has the biggest soft spot when it comes to them and it's hot. Cloud has his soft spot with baby Chocobos, too, but he needs to chill with those clearance sale plushies. Those bitches are HUGE! **

"What? No way! You guys, too?" Sora asked, chuckling at the notion.

 **Yes. I don't even know why he knows about red dot clearance sales, but he gets those things every time they go on that annual sale. I ain't even investigatin' that crap! All I know is Leon loves baby animals, he's hot, he's a tough fighter, and if he'd stop with the name shit then he'd be the perfect boy toy. Well, okay, he's like in his early twenties but he's cute anyways.**

"Huh," Sora said with some thought.

 **Hey, I thought you said you were giving up dating?**

"I am. Since the Cloud's thing not working out, may as well look around," Sora said, smiling cheekily. "Besides, I like puppies, too."

 **Great! Wanna know a secret? This is just between us.** When she heard Sora hum in response, she whispered into the phone and said, **Leon wants to open an animal shelter in Traverse Town. Late at night, I was getting a snack from the fridge while we were all living together as roommates since no one could really afford living in Hollow Bastion after this big storm hit. We're still trying to restore it and all. Anyways, I heard him outside placing an order for these little statues. He went to the bathroom for a second after he hung up and I walked over to see it. It was a statue of the Lady and the friggin Tramp! And on the table, he had this house rented for some Dalmatians who lost their puppies.**

"Aww..." Sora said, now interested in the man. He seemed like a better choice than Cloud so far. Come on, buying a house for lost puppies? A statue to probably make them feel at home? No contest. He then said, "I kinda wanna meet him now. He sounds so sweet."

 **He is! He is so cute! I'll introduce you to the dogs before you train with him. They're really friendly. Leon loves them. You can see his face brighten up when he goes to visit them. Oh, I can't wait 'til you get to Traverse Town! When is school gonna be over already? Whoa!**

Right around then is when Sora stopped chuckling and panicked after hearing a bit of scuffling over the other line. He heard voices over the line, some screaming, Cloud's name a few times, Leon's name a few times, and the line hung up. It was right then Sora realized Yuffie finally got caught. Oh shit...

* * *

"No... friggin... way..."

You wouldn't believe this but Riku hates Yen Sid a little bit. Not entirely because he gets to see Mickey every summer for camp, but he hates him right now. Riku was calmly checking his email in the home office downstairs when he noticed two new ones from Yen Sid and Ansem the Wise had just come to his inbox. Out of curiosity, Riku went on ahead and clicked Ansem's first just to see what was up. Ansem recommended Riku find a partner for some big project that was being judged for a full scholarship to any college of the competitors' choice. It required some detailed workings and was pretty interesting in its requirements: a map, scientific samples, video footage, a detailed report and several photos. It looked like a combination of several subjects all under one big geography project. Leave it to Ansem to find him some cool things to keep him busy. Then, Yen Sid's email happened. Yeah, his bleepin' email just happened.

So, let's look into why Riku is a bit angry. Yen Sid sent him an email on the same topic as Ansem just did. Great scholarship opportunity for him, really adventurous stuff, really detailed work involved, and it's a partner project. All fine. Then, he recommended a partner. Who? Only Fait _friggin_ Eto.* Why is Riku not happy about that? Only because Fait is this utter douche he had the displeasure of meeting toward the end of last summer. Minnie recommended Fait join Yen Sid's camp this summer coming up so he could put his obvious "talents" to better use. Some of the girls liked him for his "sense of adventure" but he had no place in an all girls' camp, so he needed to join a different camp. Yeah, like Riku believes that. He was bangin' those bitches. He had to be. Who lets a guy join an all girls' camp in the _first_ place? His dick wasn't in his pants, were they Minnie? Were they!?

That's not the only reason Riku can't stand Fait. The blonde - yes, Fait is some kind of dirty blonde - had left to meet with Yen Sid early, so Riku had just enough time to set up his own gear for his stay at the cabins. Yen Sid had told him that Fait had left some of his stuff in his cabin for the morning because he was out fishing with the girls from Minnie's camp. It was their way of sending him off for the next two or so weeks. Riku thought that was fairly sweet of them. When he got to his cabin, he took notice to a lot of Fait's camping gear like weather monitors, tools, equipment, and some other really high-end looking stuff. Not knowing whether or not Fait was supposed to be his new roommate, Riku just picked up a strange pair of binoculars and looked outside of the window with them. Forget high-end. Those things were impressive! You could see out for miles with them!

As he was inspecting some of the other things, little Alice from Minnie's camp had come up to retrieve some fishing wire. He remembered their conversation leading up to the inevitable meeting with the douchebag.

 _"Oh, pardon me, sir," Alice said, bowing politely. "I'm looking for my friend's fishing wire. Did you perhaps see it?"_

 _"No, I just got in," Riku replied, raising an eyebrow at the girl._

 _"I see. You're just as curious as me!" Alice said, pointing to the binoculars Riku held in his hands. When he tried to hide them, she giggled at him and said, "No need to fear me, sir. Fait does keep many treasures close to his heart when on adventures. It's part of that strong light he has within."_

 _Riku smiled gently and nodded at the girl. He then asked, "So he has all this stuff even at your camp?"_

 _"Actually more. We each get our own room, so he has plenty of space to keep even more treasure," Alice answered, humming as she dug through a bag with some fishing equipment hanging out. She excitedly declared at her findings and said, "A-ha! Found it! Well, it was nice to meet you, sir. I simply must hurry, however. We'll be leaving after lunch to say our farewell."_

 _"Fait won't be gone forever, you know," Riku said, chuckling at the young girl's saddened face. "Two weeks will go by pretty fast. Before you know it, he'll be right back."_

 _"Oh, I wish you were right," Alice said, smiling sadly. "Fait will leave us soon to work again. It'll be years before he comes back just to visit."_

 _"He doesn't take off for the holidays?" Riku questioned._

 _Alice shook her head and said, "He celebrates the holidays early so he can work during those times."_

 _"Alice? Didja find it?" a gentle male voice called from outside in the hallway._

 _Alice shook away her sadness and instantly brightened up. She then nodded and said, "Silly me! Off jabbering about nothing again. Well, it was nice to meet you, sir. Do take care. I'm coming, Fait!"_

Before Riku could stop her, little Alice was gone down the hallway. He followed after her, feeling a strange sense of protection overcoming him, and saw her being escorted a tall, young man. He smiled gently at her, took the wire from her hand, and led her back into the light of the morning sun. It was like he was her prince and protector all in one package. Alice was right. It was hard for the girls to see Fait gone. When lunch was over, he was a big pink bus parked outside with the girls waving farewell in an elegant manner. Some had a few tears that escaped like little Alice. When Minnie walked up to Fait to say her final farewell, he blew a kiss to all the girls and watched them ride off. Yen Sid was standing next to him, smiling at the exchange, and nodded as he led the boy to his tower overlooking the camping grounds. Riku was already inside of the tower along with Mickey. Donald and Goofy left to Keyblade Camp was what he was last told from Mickey. They were probably with Sora. Those three were pretty attached.

 _When Yen Sid entered his office, Riku and Mickey turned to see the hooded Fait entering after him. The counselor then said, "Ah, I thought you two would be elsewhere. Mickey, did you complete your task?"_

 _Mickey nodded and asked, "But why did you want me to hide the star shard, Yen Sid?"_

 _Yen Sid hummed and then said, "So that Fait could find it. Minnie has told me that you are very meticulous when within a new environment. Those skills can be quite useful. If you can find the star shard by the end of this week, I may be able to move you to more advanced voyages. Mickey, you and Riku are quite advanced. If Fait proves himself worthy of such voyages, he will be working with you quite often."_

 _"What's he gonna do for the other week?" Mickey asked._

 _"Training. This is all part of his evaluation," Yen Sid replied. "What he does here will determine where he will go?"_

 _"Where he'll go?" Riku finally asked._

 _Yen Sid nodded and then looked at Fait. He then said, "It is possible my teachings will not be enough. Perhaps it is within his best interests to move to Keyblade Camp and not this one. This training will help determine that. Riku, would you mind checking on Lea and Kairi for me? They both should be with Merlin. They have a project to turn in to me."_

 _"Hey," Fait finally said before Riku turned to leave._

 _"Yeah?" Riku responded, wondering what Fait would say. He seemed like a good guy from what Alice said._

 _"Mind giving me back my shit?" Fait demanded, brows furrowed in anger._

 _"Excuse me?" Riku replied, anger creeping into his chest._

 _"You're not five. If you want to see something, just ask if you can," Fait said, walking towards him. He reached out his hand and said, "My trioculars are in your pants pocket. Fork 'em over."_

 _"When you learn some manners, maybe," Riku spat. "You're not around a bunch of girls anymore, kid. Some of the guys here can kick your ass."_

 _"That so?"_

 _That was the last thing Riku heard the boy say before his lower back shivered a bit at the growl in his voice. Abruptly, a hand grabbed by the collar and forced Riku back until his back hit a will and the shiver was knocked out. Shocked, Riku felt the intensity of Fait's anger seeping through his one violet eye. It was an unusual, almost deadly attractive color. When he realized he was showing an attraction to the other male, he snapped out of it and quickly moved to kick back. Bad move. REALLY bad move. The blonde took one solid hand and parted Riku's legs until they semi-wrapped around his waist. Fait then snatched the device out of Riku's pocket and moved away before Riku could get a decent shove in. For the next minute, Riku pretty much established that he didn't appreciate being pushed around and Fait established that just because he was around girls for most of his summers that didn't mean he was effeminate. This dude could fight back and hard. He managed to get a few punches in just as Fait did before Mickey broke them up. Too angry to even look at the boy, Riku rushed out of the office until he was outside walking on the cobblestone and dirt path towards Merlin's office. He had a long conversation with Kairi and Lea when he got to the cabins that night._

Since then, Riku's pretty much hated Fait. Mind you, he had only seen Fait about three times since that incident. Yen Sid called him up to his office about three days later after Fait had left to go find the hidden star shard. Turned out Fait found it and just decided to camp out for two days to relax. Yeah, he just didn't want to see his face. Same goes for Riku. With the item found, however, Fait had to move on to training early. Fait was impressive on all accounts. Whatever he was doing at Minnie's camp was beyond anyone's guess. There's no way you can be so... so... well, there's no word for it really. Fait just seemed like an army kind of guy. When Yen Sid let Fait leave early, Fait just bowed to Yen Sid and didn't even say a decent word of thanks. What? Even worse, this dude gave back all the camping equipment Yen Sid gave to him for one final test and all of it was completely destroyed. Kairi even told him and Lea that she thought he was flirting with her when he came across him setting up some kind of tower thing in the woods. It took him and Sora _years_ to actually get Kairi to think of them in a more romantic manner, and this jerk comes in and just swoops - ?

"I am NOT partnering up with this guy!" Riku shouted throughout the whole house, feeling his skin ripple in anger as he grinded his teeth together. The thought of even seeing Fait and his stupid, freckled face was enough to make his body turn red. As soon as he said that, Yen Sid sent another email. Riku quieted down and said, " _Please_ tell me I can partner with someone else."

 **Riku,**

 **Do not let one boy hinder you in obtaining a marvelous opportunity like this one. Fait may seem brash and distant to you now, but I believe there is something very unique underneath the mask he wears. Minnie and the other princesses are close to him. They trust him and he trusts them. For Minnie to have watched over him for so long in spite of the fact that he is obviously a male amongst many females means that she sees something beyond the surface. It's something within him that is worthy of her protection. This competition is exactly within your area as it is for Fait. You both go beyond what is seen by normal eyes and search for what is hidden. This project will help the two of you learn more about each other and uncover mysteries you possibly couldn't do alone. There is an old saying amongst the old folks like myself for this kind of situation: a master of patience is a master over many. Be patient with Fait, Riku. You might find that his demeanor is not what it has played out to be. I have his contact information attached. Give him a chance and call him about ideas. Minnie gave him a similar email. He seemed interested.**

Riku finished reading the email, took a deep breath, adjusted his midnight blue reading glasses, and sighed in frustration. He then said to himself, "Fine! I'll work with the bastard, but _only_ because a full scholarship is on the line. He would want to not piss me off tonight." With that, Riku opened the attachment and dialed Fait's number on his cell phone to call the evil blonde. Yes, Fait is one of those edgy guys with the blonde hair and some black dyed hair hiding between the seams of... blondeness? That's about all he knows about the guy. He's never really seen Fait's face. Good. It'd probably just infuriate him. Riku then muttered to himself as the phone was ringing, "I can't believe I'm doing this..."

 **This is Hawking of the Dominus, Eto and Hawking residence*. How may I help you?**

"Yeah, is Fait home? I'm Riku. Yen Sid just sent me an email about some project and recommended I call him," Riku wanted to gag so much.

 **... Seriously?**

"Yeah?" Riku said. A sudden ray of hope lit up his face. Maybe this was all a big prank and he really didn't have to work with Fait! That's good, right? Yes, it is! Riku then faked some concern and asked politely, "Oh, did Fait not get his yet?"

 **Well, Mr. Riku, my brother did receive a notification about an upcoming project his camp counselor and school counselor recommended he participate in, but I have no idea who this Mr. Yen Sid is or more importantly you. Care to elaborate?**

Riku was beginning to like this Hawking guy too much. Good, if he could keep him on the phone and avoid Fait entirely, then he could just tell Yen Sid that he couldn't get in contact with Fait so boohoo. He smirked at the clever plan and said, "Yen Sid is the headmaster of the Mouseketeers Camp. Mickey's like an assistant master."

 **Oh, Minnie's husband. Him, I know. You lost me on that other guy. I could've sworn a partner was optional for this thing, though. Who'd you get that email from again?**

"YES!" Riku whispered, moving the phone away from him so Hawking wouldn't hear that. He snapped back to sound almost hurt (of course, he wasn't) and said, "Oh, I'm sorry. I got the message from Yen Sid. He suggested I work with Fait, but if he'd rather work on his own then I don't mind."

 **Well, it doesn't hurt to check. Hold on for one second, Mr. Riku. Fait! Phone!**

Riku then began to mutter, "Please say you want to work alone, please say you want to work alone, please say you want to work alone. Be a douche for me. C'mon, baby, be that douche for me."

 **Eto.**

It was at that moment, a shiver ran down Riku's spine at the sound of the husky voice from the other line. Even his glasses dropped down the bridge of his nose for a fraction of an inch at the tone alone. He had never heard a voice that... sexy before. Not over the phone at least. For the most part, Riku never really heard Fait... talk with exception to those few sentences he uttered before their big fight in Yen Sid's office. Someone usually spoke in his place or explained things in his absence. This voice was just... smooth, commanding, and hypnotic. He didn't even utter a full sentence. He just said his last name!

Riku licked his lips, pushed his glasses up with a single finger, and asked almost quietly, "F-Fait? That you?"

 **Yeah. My brother didn't say who this was. What's your name?**

Damn Snow Miser blowing down his spine and friggin Heat Miser's competing with him to warm him up! In the wrong areas! Stupid Fait and his... his... dammit! Why couldn't he be a douche right now? Yes, he said he didn't want to be pissed at him, but he didn't want to be attracted to him either! That's disgusting! Right? Yes, it is! Riku bit his bottom lip a little bit and shifted in his seat to get rid of the sudden discomfort his body was having trouble - oh, you know - holding back.

He then cleared his throat, made sure his body was prepared for whatever was coming next, and spoke calmly, "This is Riku from Yen Sid's camp. Your brother just told me you got an email from Minnie about this summer project. I got a similar one from Ansem and Yen Sid. They recommended we work together on this since this seems to be in our area of expertise."

 **Fair enough. You seem pretty professional about all this. What did you have in mind for this project?**

"Well, I just got the email, so I don't know yet," Riku informed, now feeling Fait's douche-ness coming around. His body was responding appropriately and everything.

 **Minnie gave me an idea a couple of weeks ago. I was thinking of doing... mm... a real-life Myth Buster kind of thing. We go to a place, see about some of their legends, and do like an investigation. I haven't thought about which world I'd like to try yet, but that's what I had in mind. It captures everything they want. Something on science, geography, we have to report what's been done and seen so there's your English, but as far as math goes the only thing I can actually think of is maybe the graphing part when you're developing a map. You have to gather coordinates and keep a travel record. There's all your core subject material. Survivalist skills come from the camp you're in so that's who you're representing along with the school. Any electives taken that relate to the project can also be included so that's where your learning outcomes or objectives are gonna go. That's where I am in this thing anyway. If you have any other ideas, call me back and let me know.**

Riku started to panic when Fait shuffled a bit to hang up the phone. His idea was a good one, and... okay, he sounds outrageously tired but his voice sounds incredible when he's too sleepy to argue. He didn't even deliver one of those snappy remarks about him calling at... is it really passed midnight? No wonder he's tired! Riku blushed at this and blurted out, "Wait, Fait, don't go!"

 **Hm?**

"Um," Riku said, swallowing a thick frog crawling up his throat. Nasty image, right? Yeah. Riku then continued, "What worlds or cities have you... Myth Busted already?"

 **Enchanted Dominion was the last place I went to.**

Riku heard poor Fait yawn and exhale deeply like he had the most painfully stressful day. Wait, poor F - ? What? He is _not_ feeling sorry for this jerk! Not only did he not answer the question fully, he was too out of it to answer the question. Oh, that's why he felt bad. He's out of it and it's like 1:26 in the morning, but it's Saturday night. Shouldn't he be up watching late-night TV or something? Maybe he works on the weekends. Maybe his brother, Hawking, kept him busy all day. He sounded pretty awake and cheerful when he answered the house phone. Must be the house phone cuz he doubted Fait would let anyone touch his cell phone.

"Can you send me some pictures of what you did there? Or, you know, the map you made?"

 **Yeah. What's your email address, baby?**

"Ba-buh-ba-b-baby?" Riku stuttered, feeling the Heat Miser warming him up again because that's why his face is turning pink. Snow Miser decided to go to bed early, too, was his guess. Frustrated with his body's responses to the other male, Riku finally manned up and said his next couple of choice words. "Okay, first off, I'm not your baby. We're not dating, we're not flirting, we're not even in love. You are one of the most infuriating people I've ever met next to my flamboyant dandy of a father. Your voice keeps bothering me over this damn phone. The Holiday Misers keep doing things to my body at the sound of your retarded voice. It's a friggin Saturday night! Why are you sleeping before midnight? Any other teenager would be watching something good on TV. On top of everything else, I don't even know why Yen Sid is suggesting I work with you because he knows I can't stand you! You're probably the biggest douchebag I know!"

 **... ... I see. Since you told me the truth about how you feel towards me, I'll tell you the truth about this whole thing. My school counselor recommended this scholarship to me after my findings in Enchanted Dominion. Out of my own excitement, I showed it to Minnie. She and the girls thought it was a good change for me since I work almost full-time every day to support me and my brothers. Mickey did, too. Since having a partner was optional, I thought I'd ask you to be my partner. You're the only one I know from camp who might benefit from this. Minnie's camp isn't associated with Keyblade Camp. It's just associated with the Mouseketeers because of Mickey and Yen Sid. I'm the one who sent that email to Yen Sid about the scholarship so he could forward it to you. He must've forwarded it to Ansem to check if the program was valid. If he sent you an email, too, my guess is he figured out it was. If working with me is that much of a bother to you, you can work on this alone. It still is a great program. You should participate. If it's all good to you, I'm going back to bed. I've got work in another three hours and somethin' now.**

With one last yawn, Fait hummed in response to Riku's silence and hung up like he never heard anything. Riku, unfortunately, was stunned. Fait wanted _him_ to be his partner for this scholarship competition? He hated when Yen Sid and Ansem were right. Fait really wasn't brash or a douche, but Riku sure was after what he said to him. When he finally heard the dial tone in his ear, Riku took a deep breath and rolled his eyes before hanging up the phone. He looked through the attachment Yen Sid sent him and stared at Fait's email address for what felt like fifteen minutes. That was because he was staring at it for that long. He copied the email address and composed a new email. Normally, Riku wouldn't care about people's feelings but he was in the wrong this time. As an apology, he opened up his pictures folder and started attaching them to the email.

Riku sighed, pushed his glasses up, and then whispered to himself, "Maybe he'll find a myth to bust in my world..."

* * *

Sunday afternoon was pretty boring. Riku was hoping Fait would hurry up and email him back or call him or something. He didn't really want to completely disconnect with the guy. Hence why he's on his way to the beach of the main island to meet with Sora. Now see, Sora was what he expected out of a teenager on a Saturday night. Someone who stayed up to play around on the internet or play Plants vs Zombies on his phone while it was charging or watch late-night TV. That's exactly what Sora did when he called him after staring at his email for twenty minutes and sulking about what happened between him and Fait. He was surfing the internet and texting some new friend he plans on meeting after school is out.

"Riku!" Sora called, waving frantically at his friend. Riku smiled at him and walked towards him to join him on the sands. Destiny Islands was always a peaceful place. Sora then spoke up, "So what'd you want to talk about?"

Riku sighed then laid on his back to bask in the sun's rays. He finally answered the curious brunette, "I got into it with this guy. You remember the blonde I mentioned? Fait Eto?"

"Oh, you mean the guy Minnie sent to Yen Sid?" Sora asked just to clarify. "Aren't you always fighting?"

"Well, not since the one in Yen Sid's office. I'm the one who does most of the fighting. He just kinda takes it and pushes on," Riku answered. "Kinda like last night. Yen Sid and Ansem sent me this email about a competition for this scholarship. Turns out Fait was the who was told about it and he forwarded the email to them to ask me to be his partner for the project, but... I... yelled at him. When I called him, I thought he'd be like you or our friends. Up all night doing something 'til school started again, but Fait works on the weekends and I think he does night shifts all week."

"No wonder he never argues back. He's too tired."

"Yeah. He was so out of it when I called, I don't think he was paying attention to his surroundings. I don't even think he was awake when we were talking. His voice was groggy and low, he was yawning and breathing deeply, and he... called me baby..."

"Wha - ? Really?" Sora questioned, jumping on top of Riku. "Like in a romantic way?"

"I... don't know," Riku said, feeling a blush creeping up on him. Damn Heat Miser! It's Sunday!

"Well, how low was his voice compared to how he usually talks?"

"Like he just woke up low maybe?" Riku questioned with an annoyed glare directed at the brunette straddling him. If it were anyone else, he would've shoved the person off him immediately.

"You were blushing earlier, so it must've been low enough to attract your attention," Sora suggested, furrowing his eyebrows in that familiar questioning gaze. "Calling you baby isn't that unusual. Your dad does it all the time. When we tease you, we call you baby sometimes."

"Hey Sora?" Riku called, earning a hum in response. "Get off!"

* * *

Quick Author's Notes:

1.) Chai is short for Chailo. She's a character I created for my Final Fantasy VII fic called Inferno of His Passions. If you're interested you can check that out, but it's not necessary for this fic. I just added her in as an athletic trainer for Yuffie. I wanted someone Yuffie was close to in the Final Fantasy universe, but she's really not that close to anyone other than the cast members. Go figure.

2.) Fait Eto is also another character I created, but he's for my KH fic called Kingdom Hearts: Realm of Sleep. You can check this one out too if you want, but it's not necessary for this fic either. I couldn't think of any characters Riku was close to other than Sora since he's to himself for most of the games. Fait was the best choice to fill that void.

3.) Pairings so far: implied Ven x Namine, implied Ven x Isa, implied Ven x Terra (because Chapter 1), implied Ven x Terra x Aqua (because Chapter 1), Tidus x Auron (because I got nothin'. Yuna's a bite-sized fairy - what could she possibly do for Tidus?), implied Sora x Cloud (but it doesn't go anywhere), potential Sora x Yuffie (because Sora's bi at the moment. Cloud was his first male crush), potential Sora x Leon (not sure if we'll get there), and potential Riku x OC (because it's pretty funny to see Riku's feathers get ruffled).

4.) Hawking and Dominus are also characters for my KH fic.


	5. Chapter 5

"Oh, c'mon, Riku!" Sora complained, pouting at his friend. "Gimme somethin' to work with. If you just say 'Fait called me baby over the phone when I called him late at night about God knows what', I'm just gonna say Fait probably likes you."

Riku pops up at that notion, face completely red, but not out of anger or frustration or even embarrassment. Sora couldn't put his finger on what the emotion was but it looked like... Riku maybe thought the same thing? Nah, that couldn't be it. Maybe... Sora leaned in just barely under half an inch to read Riku's face. His hair wasn't disheveled or anything so he wasn't up the whole night thinking about it. If anything, it looked nice and it was pulled back today with a few strands sticking out where his bangs usually were. Note number one: new hairstyle showing best friend's self-confidence, professionalism, and perfection. Well, Riku's always been that way. He usually says it means he's ready to be "the adult". Ew.

"Hm..." Sora hummed, taking in more of Riku's appearance. Note number two: moisturized skin showing best friend's youthful appearance. "Sudden desire to be mature. Glowing skin showing your youth."

Note number three: cherry-flavored lip balm with SP-30 protection making the pink skin on best friend's lips appear a _little_ more pink and natural. How does he know it's SP-30 protection? Oh, you like when he's a little smart about some things, do you? Smart is the new sexy nowadays. SP-30 has a distinct smell like an antiseptic. The fact that his chap stick had a scent rather than just be that regular "meh" is almost implying an invitation to enter his personal space. Only Sora and Kairi have successfully done that. Oh, Mickey, too. That's right. Well, that's his face covered. No earrings or anything. On to the neck and down. No necklaces today. Very clean, pressed yellow under shirt with a white vest over it. White is purity and yellow has many meanings, but we'll say yellow is courage. Dark washed denim jeans and black and white sneakers are pretty trendy. This is all looks normal, though. Well, maybe not the white since Riku seldom does white. He's more blacks and greys.

Sora finally moved to get off Riku until he felt something hard near his knee that made him stop. He then hummed in thought and took out Riku's glasses case. He said, "Your reading glasses? You never bring these anywhere other than school and that's for a few classes. You hate the attention."

Riku just stared at him, knowing he was desperate to understand what was going on. Sora would never know this, but Riku was thinking about that phone call from the moment he woke up. When he checked his phone this morning, he received an email from Fait personally. He thanked him for the information on Destiny Islands and said he'd check it out sometime in the evening after work. Since then, he was pulling everything out of his drawers and closet. He didn't know why. He didn't owe the jerk anything. They weren't into each other. If anything, Riku wanted nothing more than to barge in to Fait's house, wait in his room, and go for his throat as soon as his guard was down. Yeah. Once his brother, Hawking, came in to see the damage, he would run out of the room screaming his success in killing the blonde bastard and laugh maniacally at it all from the top of some building on a thundery night. Damn those cheesy TV shows!

"Riku?" Sora called, folding his arms in thought. "Fait's on his way here, isn't he?"

"I... think so?" Riku replied, feeling his heart racing at the thought. Did he do everything? Brushed his teeth? Check. Combed his ha - ? No, Sora just went through all of that. Did he read that email ri - ?

"But you said you hate him, right?" Sora asked, looking off to the side.

"Yeah?" Riku answered, creeping close to his friend. Please say why he feels all panicky all of a sudden. Please!

"Riku..." Sora started, eyes lowering in deep thought. "What time in the morning did you read that email the first time?"

"I didn't read it in the morning. It was 11:39 PM when I read it."

"When did you call Fait?" Sora then asked.

"1:17 AM. He had work in three hours and a few minutes," Riku blurted out.

"That means he had to be at work for 5 or 5:30 in the morning. He's gotta be a truck driver or stock manager. That's too early for a teenager. He was definitely tired so no phone sex was in his tone. You said his brother picked up the phone first when you texted me and he wasn't tired at all, so his brother doesn't work on the weekends sounds like. Did his brother call you baby?" Sora asked.

"No."

"What about something formal? Like master or something?" Sora asked, placing a finger on his chin.

"Mister and sir," Riku was on the edge of his seat at this point. Sora never thought this deep or asked this much detail about anything. Something was brewing up in that brain up there. Any other time he would've been proud but now was not that time. He's having a crisis.

"The baby doesn't mean anything then," Sora responded, shaking his head and placing his finger down. His arms were still folded, though, so there was something else on his mind and an answer Riku needed to hear might have been lingering in there. Sora then continued, "His brother uses names in a similar manner. Baby for Fait could be the same as sir for the brother."

"Good... Now what?" Riku questioned, calming his heart down by breathing.

Sora slowly turned to Riku, eyes still lidded and a smirk growing. Shit. He shouldn't have asked. Then his friend wouldn't have said, "But you don't want it to be the same. You wanted it to mean something."

"No," Riku responded, backing away from Sora. This was not happening. "There's no way..."

"What time did Fait say he was coming over here?" Sora asked, watching Riku mutter curses to himself while shaking his head lightly in a subtle motion. "I'm guessing he works a regular 40-hour week but through night shifts and long weekends. That means when school's open he works from maybe 4:30 to like 10:30. That's a good six hours. To make up the other 10 hours during the week, he would have to work for 5 extra hours on Saturdays and Sundays. He made up those hours at around 10:30 today, which oughtta be enough time to have breakfast with his brothers, and it's 2:29 right now. That means he could either be here right now as we speak or still working. If he is here..."

"Then?" Riku probed in an almost pleading tone. What's he gonna say? Come on, just tell him!

Sora smiled brightly, put his hands on the back of his head, and then said, "He'd be too busy to talk to you. No worries!"

Choke him. Take your hands and just... "AH!" Riku shouted, plopping onto his back and dramatically whimpering at Sora's words. "Then why am I _dressed_ like this at all?"

"You just wanted to apologize properly," Sora then said, getting off Riku completely and leaning back onto his hands to take a deep breath. "That's a good thing. Looks like you just wanted a second chance to make a good impression. Since he was willing to look passed your disagreements and ask your counselors if he could work with you, maybe this refreshed look is a hidden desire to show you're willing to look passed his being an absolute dick to you before and actually approach him."

"But what's with the baby thing?" Riku asked, hunching his shoulders to show confusion.

"It just means you wanted it to mean something else like I said before," Sora answered, shrugging his shoulders. "Maybe you wanted him crushin' on you because it'd explain the dickery."

"That's not a word," Riku remarked, closing his eyes to think.

"Well, have you ever seen Fait _not_ being a douche before?" Sora asked, pouting a bit.

Riku opened his eyes a bit and looked up at the clouds passing over his head. He then said, "Yeah. At camp, Yen Sid said Fait had moved his things into my cabin for a little while. He was going fishing with the girls at Minnie's camp. It was like a send-off party. This little girl, Alice, was looking for some fishing wire he left in the room. She didn't want him to leave. None of the girls really did. Doesn't matter anyway, but... the way he called Alice to the door, the way they smiled at each other, the way he led her back to the fishing grounds... I don't know... he seemed..."

"Kind of sweet?" Sora probed, smiling gently.

Riku shook his head, lips creeping into this strangely soft grin, and corrected his friend saying, "Pure. Like he was meant to be with them. Like he belonged."

"Excuse me, boys," an unfamiliar voice called. Riku and Sora hummed in response and sat up to see an old man standing behind them. Well, not really old as in somewhere close to 90 but older than them. They noticed a clipboard in his hand as he looked down to read its contents. The man then said, "Pardon me for interrupting you, but a young man told me to inform Riku that's he's on the smaller island. His name is Fait Eto. He said he found something interesting about our hometown and wanted to thank you for inviting him here."

"He was here already?" Riku shouted more than questioned. "When did he get here? Was he here long? Did he see me?"

"He was here for some time, yes," the old man answered, looking up from his board. "I spoke to him for at least an hour. He seemed interested in our myths and legends. Kept asking about older stories. Didn't seem like the usual tourist."

"Wait, you mean he found something here like some Indiana Jones kind of deal?" Sora questioned.

"Not quite that dangerous, but if it helps you understand it all then why not?" the old man dismissed with a chuckle. "I think he's looking into one of our old wives' tales about a crystal tower that harnessed the power of howling gales within it. It's a really old story not many people know about. Part of me hopes he finds it and donates it to our community. Maybe we can preserve the remains if it even exists."

"I've never heard of any crystal tower," Sora said, raising an eyebrow. "Do you know about it, Riku?"

"No. What's the crystal tower?" Riku asked, fully interested as the man kneeled down to sit in the sand.

"Well," the old man sighed, looking out into the ocean. "My grandmother used to tell me the story when I was a child. Long ago, the king of our islands left his palace to travel through the village one day. He came across a beautiful medicine woman who was healing the sick and wounded. Back then, it was forbidden for royalty to marry peasants or servants. Distraught by this, the king left into the woods to develop a way of disguising the medicine woman as a princess so he could properly court her and marry her. There, he met another beautiful woman who lived within the mountain cave and who hated the medicine maker. Of course, he didn't know that and was quite easily seduced by her charms. She persuaded him to use black magic to trick the royal court into letting the medicine woman into the palace and allowing him to court her. In exchange, she merely asked to be let into the village for a day. The king agreed and followed the witch's instructions down to the letter, but..."

"But?" Sora probed, curious to know the rest.

"The black magic the king used to fulfill his wish unleashed the witch's demons and his people suffered from this. The witch covered the kingdom in darkness until the medicine woman overheard what happened from one of the villagers. The medicine woman had the power of light within her and used this power to imprison all of the demons into a large crystal. Enraged by the witch's treachery, the medicine woman cast her out into the sea and banished her to a prison at the bottom. The crystal, which had become riddled with darkness, was used to create a tower that would lock away the witch and her demons. A maelstrom surrounded the prison as a warning to anyone who dared come near it."

"I take it she wasn't too happy with the king," Riku said.

"That's the part I don't know. Someone else told the young man the rest," the old man said. "I guess that's why I hope he finds something related to that legend. I've never seen our people come together like that before. It was like we discovered something new about each other. A connection we missed while growing up and older." The man then slowly turned to stand up and said, "Well, I best be going. Looks like that's my son with the boat. That young man unloads his things quickly. Maybe I'll visit his campsite sometime. My son seems to get along with him quite well."

With that, the man left the boys there to think. Sora spoke first this time and said, "Wow, that is something. Think he'll find it?"

"I don't know," Riku answered, shrugging a shoulder. "Part of me wants him to because I've never heard of that story before, but the other part of me hopes he doesn't. I don't know why either."

"What if you found it together?" Sora questioned, sitting Indian-style.

Riku blushed lightly and then said, "Hey, _I'm_ not a bi. This isn't about to be some bad cliché in those weird comics you keep reading."

Sora smiled mischievously and then said, "The fact that you even thought about it means you like him in that way... a little bit."

"What?" Riku shouted, face half-red. "Where'd you get that from?"

"Don't give me that," Sora replied, eyes turning to an almost evil dark blue. "You changed your entire appearance in anticipation that you'd see him, and, when you found out he did show up here and is currently doing his assignment on the Play Island, you asked if he saw you. You wanted him to see you because you want his attention. You want him to look at you the way he looked at the girls because that's when he's his sexiest. And...you...know it."

Riku was shocked at the word's coming out of his best friend's mouth and even more shocked that he might be on to something. He was shaking his head in denial and repeating the word no before screaming it out and rolling around in the sand. He was even trying to convince himself that he wasn't into Fait like that, yet Sora's words finally sunk in and he was red from the scalp down. Fait did look gorgeous when he smiled at Alice. He looked like her protector, her prince, her brother, her father, and her best friend all in one package. Now, Riku knew he wasn't some weak, little girl. Riku was 80,000 times tougher than little Alice and 2 or 3 times tougher than Sora, but Fait was something else and could easily man-handle him as he demonstrated when they first met. He spread his legs quickly and in one motion. That kind of speed and strength couldn't be found in a man who was considered effeminate. What was that kind of guy even doing at an all-girls camp anyway? Was it not an all-girls camp? Did Minnie spread lies to him all this time?

"What if it's not Fait but just tough, rugged men in general? That's a thing," Riku tried.

Sora returned to his innocent self and thought about it. He then said, "Actually, that could be a thing. Have you seen any other guys you liked but didn't know it?"

Riku paused, looked down at the ground, and mumbled, "No."

"What about Lea?" Sora asked. "You both go to the same camp, right?"

"Lea's cool and whatever, but he's not..." Riku said, rotating his wrist about to search for the right word.

"Fait?" Sora probed, watching his friend plunge his face in the sand and scream. "Well, my friend, Ventus, knows a guy named Terra and he's pretty hot. Maybe you should meet him and see if anything happens. In the meantime, I'm gonna go see who this blonde heartthrob is. I'll even kick his ass for you."

"The only one who gets to kick Fait's ass is me!" Riku shouted, eyes turning white and veins popping out of his forehead.

* * *

Sora and Riku decided to take their separate boats to the Play Island as they raced each other there. Of course, Riku won because he's a champion kayaker. When they tied their boats up to the dock, it was easy for the two of them to spot the trailer wheel tracks denting the beautiful white plains of the beach. A dune buggy must have been onboard the boat while Fait was moving his stuff to the island. How much gear did he have? While Sora and Riku talked about nothing and followed the tracks to the back part of the island, they were surprised by the three-roof building Fait managed to construct within a few hours. It looked like a fancy beach house hidden under palm trees. It was beautiful! The walls were made to be sturdy from the looks of it, rocks formed a nicely organized floor, and there was even some kind of kitchenette. The boys didn't see Fait around and checked to make sure he was out before they looked inside one of the shacks and took note to the furniture inside. There was a living room practically connected to the bedroom. The bed looked so comfortable! There was even a hammock outside for him to just sit outside and enjoy whatever view he wanted to see.

"No wonder he trashed Yen Sid's camping stuff," Riku whispered, hearing Sora whistle behind as he looked around.

"This is wow," the brunette said. "I couldn't even imagine a better place to go camping. He built a house with his bare hands!"

"Did you see anything else?" Riku asked.

"He's building something else in the back. Looks like a bunch of pipes," Sora replied, picking up an oil lamp and an empty glass container. "I guess he decided to stop and look around for a while."

"Unless he ran out of wood and nails," Riku said, seeing stationery on a desk. "How's he gonna take all of this stuff down?"

"The same way I always do."

Sora and Riku sharply turned around to see Fait standing in the doorway and dressed in a black wife beater and pale blue linen pajama pants with no shoes on. His hair was pulled back in a bun, showing off his black streaks and handsome freckled face, but the left side of his face and arm were bandaged. They wondered if he hurt himself while building everything, but neither one had it in their heart to ask. Sora could see why Riku was at odds with Fait, however. He was rugged as in built for sin and surviving the outdoors, and he was pulling out a cooler with food and drinks in it. He definitely had a nice profile based on the curve of his ass when he bent over to pull the blue and white box out. Sora glanced at Riku for a second and noticed that his friend was slightly blushing before his whole demeanor changed to something less impressed. He didn't understand why he was changing his attitude all of a sudden but decided to question it later. Sora returned his gaze to Fait and saw that he took out a wine cooler and a wrapped up sandwich with "Ham" written with a permanent marker on the side.

"What, no mini fridge?" Riku asked, scoffing.

"No electricity," Fait stated, unwrapping the sandwich. "I use solar-powered or magnetic equipment for camping trips."

The smell of the sandwich was enough to confirm that Fait was definitely a carnivore for Sora. It was fully dressed with ham, lettuce, tomato, bacon, some extra stuff and pickles. Yeah, real man food. Fait took a bite out of the sandwich with one hand and placed the wine cooler's base on his hip before he expertly untwisted the cap with one hand and flicked it off with his thumb. He took a quick swig before putting it down to check his phone for texts. One of his brothers must've sent him something. He chuckled silently before responding and then attaching a magnetic charger to his phone. The blonde wasn't kidding when he meant magnetic power only.

"So, let me introduce myself before things get more awkward," Sora said, holding his hand out for a shake. "I'm Sora. Riku's best friend since pre-school. You must be Fait."

Fait took Sora's hand and gave it a firm squeeze, minding his strength and offering gentleness to Sora, before saying, "Pleasure to meet you, Sora. What brings you here? Other than this island probably being your property."

"I came to meet you since you know Riku. I hear you both go to the same camp."

"Not really," Fait said, taking another swig from his wine cooler. "I'm with Minnie's camp. My city doesn't have a youth camp. Hers was the only one my family could afford that was closest to home."

"Really? Where do you live?" Sora asked, smiling brightly. He was happy to see Fait return his smile with a gentle smirk. Now, he could see where the gorgeous is coming from. His smirk gave a twinkle to his violet eyes.

"In your language, it translates to the Island of Unity*," Fait answered.

"Alright, you're an island brother, too," Sora said, nodding and chuckling a bit to loosen Fait up some more. He laughed when Fait covered the top of his wine cooler to pound his chest with his fist three times. Sora was kind of seeing where the attraction was coming from. Fait seemed to have a nice sense of humor and he was proud of his heritage. Maybe he was really building a second home on Destiny Islands. Sora then asked, "What made her want to bring you to Riku's camp?"

"She just wanted me to be around other boys. Both my brothers got too old for camp, so it's just me now," Fait answered, taking a swig from his wine cooler. When his stomach started growling, he said, "Sorry to cut this intro short, but I haven't eaten since I got off work. You can grab a hoagie if you want. I think there's chicken, roast beef, and turkey in there. A friend of mine made a few of 'em with my brothers. There should be a few sodas at the top in case you don't do the alcohol at the bottom. Can I trust you not to trash my stuff while I eat?"

"We're not delinquents like you, blondie," Riku answered, rolling his eyes. "Go eat your sandwich and breathe."

Fait nodded at them and then went outside to sit in his hammock. Sora turned around and said, "Dude, what the hell?"

"What?" Riku questioned.

"You're being a dick," Sora responded in a whispering tone. "He just came in here to eat. What's wrong with you?"

"I don't know!" Riku replied, kneading his fingers in his hair to mess up his style in frustration. "He still makes me angry. He was an asshole at camp."

"You're being an asshole now," Sora argued. "Fait seems like a nice guy to me. And I see why you want him to like you but you being mean isn't helping."

"Are you friggin kidding me? We got into a fist fight as soon as we met!" Riku argued.

"Well, what'd you do to make him so mad? He didn't punch me," Sora said.

"Nothing! I just looked at his binoculars and forgot to put 'em back because Mickey called me in to Yen Sid's office," Riku explained. "I was gonna give 'em back since they looked expensive."

"Well, what happened after that? Was he just mean ever since?" Sora questioned.

"Yen Sid had us separated after the fight, so Fait was mostly with him," Riku said, peeking out of the window of the bedroom hut. He could see Fait enjoying the scenery as he ate his lunch or dinner or whatever. Damn him for making that sandwich look good. Damn him for making that hammock look comfortable. When Riku realized who he was talking about, he properly defended himself again. He said, "Hold the hell up! Why am I even explaining myself? Ever since that fight, he's been taunting me or getting under my damn skin! He gave me a crappy telescope made out of God knows what, told me to work with that, and then took one of Yen Sid's missions where we _strictly_ had to use binoculars or telescopes to scan the perimeter. As if that wasn't enough, he refused to listen to my warnings about the predators in an unknown territory and told me, 'You're not needed for this part. You can go back to camp.' Know what he hands me after he says that? Some ointment and a carton of bandages with a sheet of stickers. I'm not a child!"

"Wait..." Sora said, stopping Riku's ranting. The brunette was dissecting his friend's words for a moment and asked, "You said he made you a telescope? From scratch?"

"Yeah, he got some kind of cheap lens and threw together the tubing for the body."

"Did he try teaching you how to use it?" Sora asked, folding his arms. There was concern in his eyes.

Riku calmed down a bit at the look Sora was giving him and replied, "No, he just kept pointing at things for me to look at. I got frustrated with him bossing me around, so I threw the shit over the cliff and snatched his out of his hand. That's how the other fight started. He had the nerve to tell me, 'You suck at long-range surveillance.' I don't even know how he got Lea's number, but he called him to pick me up and bring me back to camp."

Sora stood there, listening to Riku speak until he was finished, and then sighed and shook his head. Riku had never seen disappointment from Sora before. You could read it in his face, slumping shoulders, and lidded eyes. Suddenly, the silver-haired teen felt nervous. Was Sora about to reprimand him? His Sora? The one who's always cheerful and bright and happy? Sure enough, that's what the brunette did.

"To say you're the smart one out of all our friends, you're incredibly dense when it comes to Fait," Sora started, scratching the back of his head. "Do you remember what the binoculars you took from Fait looked like?"

"What the hell do you mean dense?" Riku asked, glaring at Sora.

"I'll show you when you tell me which binocular you saw."


End file.
